Commonwealth High
by storywriter853
Summary: High school AU! The Lunar Chronicles characters are facing another year of high school. For some, that means another year of being bullied or ignored. For others, it's another year of being with someone they don't love. But this year will be different. From new friends, blossoming romances, a strange new disease, and a school musical, this is a year that will change their lives.
1. Chapter 1

Cinder and her stepfamily's taxi screeched to a halt in front of their new apartment building. Exhaling a breath of relief at not having to be squished between Pearl and Peony in the back seat anymore, Cinder stepped out. She glanced up at their new home. It was...not what she had been expecting.

She would never have expected Adri, pampered, stuck-up Adri, to rent out an apartment in this wreck of a building. It wasn't even a building. More like a giant hulking monstrosity that had been hastily slapped together out of scrap metal. Colorful graffiti lined the outer walls, chaotic drawings and rude words written in bubble letters. All of the windows were cracked and dusty and the front door was barely recognizable among all of the grime. Some tenants living in the upper floors of the apartment building were arguing for everyone else to hear, screams and insults echoing through the stale air and ringing hollowly off the walls of the buildings around the Phoenix Tower Apartments.

The buildings around this part of Commonwealth City had a feeling of being hastily put together, of more floors being added years after construction had been finished to accommodate the growing population. Cinder observed this as she hauled their luggage out of the taxi's trunk, as usual doing all of the work for her family. The upper levels of the Phoenix Tower Apartments balanced precariously on top of a structure that had not been built to support that much weight, and even Cinder, an amateur engineer, could tell that it was not structurally stable.

She shrugged. To her, it didn't matter where they lived. She would always be stuck with the same horrible people no matter where they went. Her older adopted sister Pearl didn't see things the same way. "Mom, you can't seriously expect me to live here," she whined as they walked up the front steps. "This looks like a shelter for homeless nut jobs."

Adri's lips pressed together tightly. It was clear that she was having the same doubts as her daughter. "I know it's a different scene, honey, but we have to get used to it."

That was an understatement. This apartment building was a huge change from their former luxurious home. But ever since Adri's husband and Cinder's adopted father, Garan Linh, died, they had struggled with money and eventually couldn't pay the bills for their house. Moving didn't faze Cinder. She had never had an attachment to their house. She had been adopted only five years ago, and it was clear that Adri and Pearl still saw her as an outsider in their home.

_Ding! _Cinder's phone went off as they entered the lobby. She checked her cell phone (which Adri had reluctantly let her buy after she made it big with her mechanic business in their old town). It was her best friend, Iko. She had texted, _Hope u like ur new house! Miss u xoxo_ and_ Call me ASAP. _

Cinder would've responded, but Adri was glaring at her since she'd paused in the entryway. She quickly slipped her phone into the leg pocket of the grimy cargo pants that she wore nearly every day. Her heart ached for Iko. The two girls had been best friends ever since they met in middle school, back when Iko was the short, chubby girl who everyone hated because of her overly cheerful personality and Cinder was the awkward shy girl with a metal leg and hand (rumors of all sorts had traveled around the school about what kind of accident she had been in to lose those limbs). As the outcasts of the school, they had bonded quickly.

In high school, Iko had completely changed, growing taller and thinner and prettier. Cinder had been terrified that Iko would leave her behind for the "cool" kids, but Iko had faithfully stuck by her side. Even when Cinder refused to go shopping with her about a million times. Even when Cinder canceled their plans because she had to work for her mechanics business. Even when Cinder didn't have an opinion on which boys were cute and which weren't. Iko had stuck with her through thick and thin. She was the very definition of a loyal friend.

Adri was tapping her foot impatiently, waiting for Cinder to wheel the overstuffed suitcases over to the front desk where she was waiting. They got their room keys from the person at the front desk and were about to set off the elevator to go all the way up to the twelfth floor when the lady yelled, "Oh, forgot to tell you! The elevator's broken. Take the stairs."

Pearl looked like she was about to faint at the thought of all that exercise ("I'll be a sweaty mess and my clothes and makeup will be ruined!") but Peony just grinned and took one of the suitcases from Cinder. She smiled at her younger sister. Peony had an aura of exuberance and joy that just radiated off of her, making it nearly impossible to be sad in her presence.

"Let's go!" her sister cried. "Off to start a new life here in Commonwealth."

**This chapter turned out really short, but I promise the other ones are longer. Hope you liked it! Please keep reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

A thousand steps later, Cinder and her stepfamily stepped through the door of their new apartment. Cinder hadn't been expecting much, given the state of the outside of the apartment, but this was a whole new level. There was hardly a spot in the unit that wasn't coated with dust or grime. All of the furniture was in horrible condition; mice had clearly been eating at the sofa cushions while the apartment was vacant and the wooden tables and chairs had suffered from water damage caused by a leak in the ceiling. Adri and Pearl entered behind Cinder and Peony, disgust etched all throughout their features.

Even sweet, bubbly Peony was shocked by the state of their new home. Still trying to be optimistic, Peony slumped up the stairs. "Maybe the bedrooms are better?" she suggested halfheartedly.

They were most certainly not. Cinder and Peony silently traveled from room to room, inspecting everything and taking note of the peeling wallpaper, the scarce furniture, the rat-infested carpets. The only highlight was when Adri tried to come up the stairs and she slipped on a loose floorboard because of her scarily pointy high heels. Of course, this just got her in an even worse mood.

"Girls, go claim a bedroom and unpack," she snapped, waving away the hand Peony had offered to help her get up. Cinder turned away, small suitcase in hand, still trying to hide her snorts of laughter until she heard Adri's voice again. "Not you,_ Cinder_. It's your job to start cleaning up the apartment. I'm sure there are some supplies in a closet. Make our new home look nice." The way she said _Cinder_ in her snooty tone made Cinder feel like a servant girl. Which she basically was, actually.

Sighing, she got to work. Peony climbed up the stairs, turning over her shoulder and mouthing _Sorry_ at Cinder. Cinder waved her off. It wasn't Peony's fault that Adri treated Cinder like scum while spoiling her other daughters, her _real_ daughters. But there was no use defying Adri. She always found a way to make Cinder's life even more miserable if Cinder didn't follow her orders.

At that moment, Cinder realized that she had let herself hope things might be different here. They were starting a new life in this city, after all. But no. It was the same as always. And Cinder was sick of it.

* * *

Several hours later, Cinder finally flopped down on the bare mattress on the metal cot in her new room. Of course, Adri and the girls had taken the biggest, least dirty rooms, while she got what was left. Her arms were sore after hours of scrubbing down the tiles and walls to make the apartment slightly livable. The walls of the tiny, stuffy room felt like they were closing in on her. She struggled to breathe. All Cinder wanted was to be with Iko at that moment, running through the streets of her old town with the wind in her hair and on her face, not a care in the world.

_I need to get out of here. _She had been in this grungy apartment long enough. Cinder reached for the handle of the door, not even caring that she had a curfew and Adri would severely punish her for sneaking out.

Locked. _Seriously?_ Cinder hadn't even realized that Adri was still awake. But of course, she had come and locked Cinder in her room the second she went in. Trying to make sure she couldn't run away. Cinder had had enough. _You are smart. You are resourceful. Find a way out. _

She tested the locked door, trying to see if there was a way to force the lock. Then she pulled out a long pin and tried jiggling the lock, twisting it around, but no avail. Cinder dumped out her cargo pant pockets to see what tools she had on hand. She considered a screwdriver. _I guess I could take the door off its hinges...but that would probably wake the girls and Adri up. What if I..._

Cinder's thoughts trailed off as she spied the air conditioning vent in the corner. It was a pretty big one, and it looked like the shaft would be big enough for a person to fit through. She immediately set to work prying the vent cover off with the screwdriver. Finally, it was free. She pulled out her phone and, with a few simple Google searches, had a map of the air conditioning system in the apartment downloaded. When it came to technology, Cinder wasn't a hacker or a programmer; she was more of a mechanic. But she still knew enough about coding that she could figure out how to access restricted information.

Luckily, Cinder had a mini flashlight in her pocket, and she climbed into the shaft, breathing in the musty air. It was, quite ironically, cleaner inside this maintenance shaft than the actual apartment. She climbed through on her hands and knees, taking deep breaths to keep herself from feeling claustrophobic. Following the light of the flashlight and the system map laid out clearly on her glowing phone screen, Cinder made her way throughout the whole building inside the shaft. Finally, there was another air conditioning vent in front of her, where the cold air would blow out of the shaft. She pulled the cover off and slowly lowered herself down, fingertips gripping the edge, arms shaking. When half of her body was through, Cinder suddenly realized that she had no idea how far the drop was out of the air conditioning system to the ground. She took a chance, dropping down out of the vent and onto a hard concrete floor. Cinder instinctively knew to tuck and roll to absorb the impact, something she had learned out of self-defense books. When she came up from her crouch, she found that she was standing in a supply closet. Safe and sound. She smiled to herself. There was a certain thrill that came with running away, defying your legal guardian for the first time. It felt like Cinder actually had some control over her life.

Edging open the closet door slowly, Cinder glanced around the lobby, checking to make sure the coast was clear before she dashed for the front doors. They were locked for the night, but Cinder could unlock them from the inside. She slipped outside, breathing a sigh of relief at being out in the night air.

Actually, it was barely sunset. She had thought it was later, having lost all sense of time after doing the mundane task of cleaning for hours and hours. Quickly Cinder raced down the sidewalk, out of view of the Phoenix Tower Apartments just in case Pearl or Adri was looking out the window.

Then she ran. She didn't care where. She just knew she had to get away. Cinder flew down the streets, not caring that cars coming home from work were honking at her and pedestrians were looking at her questioningly. She had to get away from that horrible new apartment, from her entire life. Away from her stepmother's orders and condescendingness. Away from her spoiled older stepsister who expected Cinder to do everything for her. Away from Peony, who undoubtedly loved Cinder, but ultimately couldn't do anything to save Cinder from Adri's cruel treatment. Away from a place that was much, much too far away from Iko. Away from everything.


	3. Chapter 3

Somehow, Cinder ended up in what looked like the rich district of Commonwealth City. Out here, the houses were much larger and fancier than the crowded, dirty apartments in her neighborhood. She slowed to a walk, looking around at the spotless lawns and picture-perfect estates. Nothing in sight was familiar. Cinder turned around to go back the way she had come, but she had already taken several twists and turns through the lanes of this neighborhood. She was lost.

Pulling her phone out of her pocket, Cinder tried to access Google Maps to help her find her way back to the Phoenix Towers. _Crap. _No service. She stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do. Nice_ job, Cinder. A couple of hours in Commonwealth City and you're already lost._

"Hey!" The voice came from somewhere off to her left. She whirled around, feeling startled. A boy slank lazily down the cobblestone path that cut through the lawn of one of the estates. He gave her an easy smile. "Lost?"

"Um...yeah," Cinder said, shifting from foot to foot.

"Saw you out the window," the boy told her. He smirked again, stepping even closer. Cinder examined his face. He looked a couple of years older than her, but he was probably still in high school. Maybe eighteen or nineteen. He was awfully good-looking, with waves of sandy hair that swept off his forehead and sparkling blue eyes. Cinder pushed those thoughts out of her brain. Usually, she was not the kind of girl who fawned over cute boys. She felt suddenly awkward. Cinder was incredibly grateful that she was wearing her work gloves and long cargo pants that hid her prosthetic parts.

Looking up, she saw that he was frowning. "How old are you?" he asked. "You seem a little young to be wandering around here by yourself. Or actually... running away, are you?"

Cinder drew herself up to her full height. She didn't want to look like a scared little girl who had lost her mommy. "I'm sixteen. And no, I'm not running away. Not exactly." She realized that she hadn't really had a plan for what she was doing. She had just been running.

He shrugged, clearly still skeptical, and held out his hand. Cinder stared at it for a moment too long before taking it awkwardly. No one in her old town had ever wanted to touch her since she was known as the robot girl, the freak. "I'm Captain Carswell Thorne," he told her.

She let out a snort, finally regaining her confidence enough to be her normal snarky self. That name was an impossibly stuffy title, and the way he said it with his eyes gleaming with pride and his chest puffed out was laughable. It was all she could do not to burst into fits of giggles.

_Captain Carswell Thorne _didn't seem to notice her rudeness. "The Captain part comes from me being captain of the football team, and also because I intend to be the captain of a plane one day. Most people call me that. It kind of just stuck."

"I'm Cinder," she said. "And yes, it's also a nickname."

The Captain smiled. "Then we should get along just fine! We can be the weird nicknames club. Now tell me, where are you trying to go? I saw you running like the devil was chasing you and then you just stopped when you realized you were lost."

"Um...about that..." Cinder had no idea what to tell him. "I just - I needed to get away from my stepfamily for a while. But god, if Adri - my stepmother - finds out... she'll be livid."

"Ah." He nodded in a gesture of camaraderie. "I totally get the feeling. Sometimes your parents just annoy the hell out of you. So where do want me to take you?"

Now Cinder was suspicious. He seemed to be acting almost too nice. "When did I say I needed you to take me somewhere?"

"I can see you're in need of an accomplice in your grand one-night getaway," the Captain said decisively. "And I happen to be somewhat of a criminal mastermind. I even have the perfect getaway vehicle!" He pointed down the driveway of the mansion to a car. It was surprisingly beaten up and smeared with grime and dust. She would have expected an entitled rich boy like the Captain to have a fancy, sleek car, not that wreck. Cinder could tell with one look at the thing that it needed a tire change and some other maintenance.

"Go away," Cinder glowered, turning away. "I don't need your help." It was clear he saw her as a frightened, lost damsel in distress who needed a handsome knight in shining armor to come take her away in his grand vehicle.

He grinned cockily. "You can't exactly tell _me_ to go away when _you're_ the one intruding on my property."

Cinder growled. "Fine. I'll go away then." She turned and stomped away, not caring that she still had no idea what to do.

"Wait, Cinder -" he called after her. "I'm just saying we might be able to help each other."

She turned and glared at him. "Like I said, I don't need your help. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm weak and helpless."

"I think that in this situation, you do need my help," he pressed on. "After all, I'm the one with the car. And the directions."

That, she couldn't argue. "I guess..." she mumbled, even though it killed her pride to say the words.

"And -" the Captain held his breath with dramatic fake suspense. "I'm the one who knows how to get to the Chinese pork bun restaurant downtown."

* * *

A little while later, Cinder and the Captain were cruising downtown in his beat-up Rampion car. He had been pretty impressed when Cinder could tell that the car was a Model 214 Rampion, Class 11.3. Their conversation had drifted to how Cinder knew so much about mechanics. It felt good to talk to someone after her painful afternoon of cleaning alone.

"My adoptive father, Garan, taught me some of what I knew back when I was eleven," Cinder said. Her mind flashed back to all those afternoons spent in the back shed with that man, learning the basics of how parts were put together and used. Everything had come naturally to Cinder, and after a while, she was able to completely disassemble cars and other machines as well as put them back together again. She had even designed a new engine system for cars - a magbelt, she called it - that had won first prize at her middle school science fair. Garan had been so proud of her.

But mechanical skills definitely didn't earn popularity points with her classmates, who already called her robot girl because of her prosthetics. This ended up being just another thing to tease her about. And then Garan had died of leukemia... Cinder had seriously considered quitting at her new hobby since it was too painful without her stepfather and apparently it wasn't "cool" for girls to be good with machines. But she had pushed through those dark days, and ever since then she had never faltered. After all, Cinder had a gift, so why not utilize it?

"I taught myself a lot more about mechanics after Garan died by reading books and watching YouTube videos," Cinder continued with the story. "And then, when I was thirteen, I started my own mechanics business. We had a central marketplace in my old town, and anyone, even kids, could set up their own stand." She didn't add that Adri had forced her to start a business because they were running out of money.

"That's really cool," the Captain remarked. He laughed. "I can barely use an iPhone, and you were starting a business at thirteen? I feel like a disgrace."

Cinder blushed modestly. "It's really not that hard for me. I kind of just look at a machine and see how it works, you know?"

The Captain shook his head. "Trust me, it's really not that easy for most people. But anyway, what high school will you be starting at? Commonwealth High?"

"Yup," she confirmed. "Do you go there?"

He grimaced. "My parents made me go to a private school in the city, Andromeda Academy, but I kind of failed in all my classes and pulled some stunts that got me expelled... so yeah, now I go to Commonwealth. Started at the beginning of last year, after I got kicked out of that damn academy." The Captain added some profanity after the last phrase that Cinder pretended not to hear.

"Wait a second. You failed your classes _and_ you pulled a stunt that got you into trouble? I didn't think it was possible to be that much of a failure." She didn't realize until after the words had left her mouth that they were quite rude.

He shrugged. "Yeah, that's just me. I've gotten into a whole lot of trouble at Commonwealth too. Basically the only reason I'm still allowed to go there is that they need me on the football team. But I'm used to trouble. I even kind of like it, somehow. It's my small way of rebelling against my parents."

Looking at him across the center console, Cinder saw that he was staring straight ahead like he was afraid that she would judge him. But she wasn't going to. She understood what it was like to want to rebel against the people who thought they had control of your life.

"And we're here!" the Captain announced, jubilant once again. He pulled the Rampion up against a curb. Cinder realized that they were in the busiest area in downtown, bustling with people shopping and walking around the hub of small shops, cafes, and bars. They were parked right in front of a storefront advertising the name of the restaurant, Zhu Rou Bao. There was a small sign underneath reading Best Pork Buns in the City! The Captain led the way inside. From the way he smiled and winked at all the waiters and waitresses, it was clear that he came there a lot.

They exited from the restaurant with a dozen mini pork buns in a to-go bag. The Captain pulled one out right away and bit into it, sighing. "I've been craving these for weeks."

**Author's Note: Thorne actually does talk about pork buns in Scarlet, when he and Cinder are escaping from prison. I'm not just adding this to the story randomly.**

The two walked through the streets, chatting idly. Occasionally the Captain would wave to someone he knew from school. Cinder guessed that late evening was a popular time for high school students to flock downtown to socialize.

The Captain finished his last pork bun, licking his fingers. "I'm thirsty now," he remarked. "Want to go get a drink? I know the perfect place."

So they ended up at a cute little French cafe called the Rieux Cafe. High schoolers and elderly people alike sat outside at fancy tables with red-and-white-striped umbrellas, sipping iced teas and eating pastries. Once inside, the Captain went up to the counter to order himself a tea and something called a _pains au chocolat - _in perfect French, of course. _Show off._

"Want anything?" he asked Cinder, who picked a hot chocolate from the menu. She instinctively reached for her wallet to pay, but then realized that she hadn't brought it into the air conditioning shaft when she left the apartment.

Her companion waved her off. "Don't worry, I'll pay," he reassured her. Normally Cinder would have told whoever was paying for her that she would pay them back later, but hey, she was broke. And the Captain seemed to have plenty of money, so it wasn't a huge loss to anyone.

They sat down at one of the tables inside. It was very crowded and noisy inside the cafe since lots of people seemed to go there for a light dessert or drink after dinner. The Captain waved to several people he knew, also winking and raising his eyebrows suggestively at some girls, who blushed and giggled. Throughout the course of the evening, Cinder had learned that the Captain was definitely a womanizer. She wondered if he had a girlfriend.

A pretty young woman with bright red curly hair walked past their table. Cinder stared enviously at her wild mane of hair tumbling loosely over her shoulders. She had always wanted to have hair like that instead of her plain brown stick-straight hair. The girl wore a strange outfit of a black and white striped blouse, a short red skirt with an apron over it, and a red beret. It took Cinder a few moments of staring to realize that she was a waitress.

"Yeah, I know," the girl said, stopping when she saw Cinder's expression. "The outfit's awful, but I guess if you work in a French cafe you have to wear a silly French outfit. At least it's mostly red." She did look good in red. The color made her hair even more vibrant.

"Hey, Scarlet," the Captain said. Cinder guessed that Scarlet also went to Commonwealth High.

She seemed surprised. "Do you guys know each other?" she asked, looking between Cinder and the Captain. _Can't blame her, _Cinder thought._ Why would a hot guy like the Captain hang out with a frumpy mechanic like me?_

"We just met," the Captain answered. "And I decided to take Cinder out for a little treat. Did you know she's coming to Commonwealth High?"

"Cool!" Scarlet exclaimed cheerfully. "I look forward to seeing you there."

"SCARLET!" roared a man standing behind the cafe counter. He impatiently dinged a bell that signaled when an order was ready for a waiter to take to a table.

"Oops, sorry, Giles," Scarlet dashed off, smiling apologetically at Cinder and the Captain.

Another waiter soon brought their drinks and the Captain's chocolate croissant to them. The two sat enjoying their light snack. "When do you start at Commonwealth High?" the Captain asked.

She thought for a moment. "In a few days, I think. My stepfamily and I need a little time to unpack and adjust, and then my stepsisters and I will be going to school again. Is it a good school?"

The Captain laughed. "Oh, yes. It's your stereotypical high school - old snotty teachers, dirty bathrooms, boys who run around like monkeys all the time, cliques of mean girls - you name it." He started telling Cinder stories about all of the adventures he had gotten into at school. Between the descriptive way he spoke and his animated gestures and facials, it wasn't long before she was cracking up. Even though moving to Commonwealth City had been rough, Cinder was just happy that she had found a friend.

And then a shrill voice completely shattered the moment.

"CARSWELL THORNE!"

**Author's Note: Don't worry, Cinder and Thorne aren't going to be a ship in this story. I still think they have really great chemistry though**


	4. Chapter 4

Cinder flinched back, away from the blonde bimbo teetering toward her and the Captain in super tall high heels with a scary expression on her face. She was wearing_ way_ too little clothing for Cinder's taste. But apparently the Captain didn't feel the same way, because he stood up from their table and reached out to try to pull the girl into an embrace. She let him hold her for a second, then pulled away, glaring fiercely once again.

"I can't believe you, Carswell! I never thought you would cheat on me!" she huffed, flipping her wavy blond hair over her shoulder in a dramatic way. Cinder had to bite her cheek to keep from bursting into laughter. This was a scene straight out of a cheesy romance TV show.

The Captain held up his hands. "Whoa, Samantha, slow down. I would never cheat on you! That's ridiculous."

"Oh yeah?" Samantha, who must have been his girlfriend, sniffed. "Then how do you explain _this_?" She gestured to the table Cinder was still seated at, wrinkling her nose as she took in Cinder's dirty shirt and pants and her plain face with no makeup on it.

"Samantha, this is Cinder," the Captain explained, trying to smooth over the moment. "She's new in town and will be coming to Commonwealth High. I was just talking to her." He noticeably didn't mention how he had driven her all over town and paid for her food.

Samantha rolled her eyes. "And talking turns to flirting, and flirting turns to kissing, and suddenly you've got a new girlfriend! Don't try to tell me you guys were just_ talking_." Behind Samantha's back, Cinder saw the waitress Scarlet covering her mouth to hide her snorts of laughter. This was so ridiculous.

The Captain sighed, running his hand through his hair in frustration. Cinder got the feeling that he had to deal with drama from his girlfriend very often. "Let's just - " he grabbed her wrist, pulling her into a corner of the cafe. Cinder watched from their table, slightly amused to see how worked up Samantha was.

"Hey," Scarlet slid into the chair that the Captain had left empty. "You looked lonely. And I'm on break now, so I thought I should use the chance to talk to you."

"I didn't know the Captain had a girlfriend," Cinder remarked, still watching the couple fight. She had never had a relationship with anyone before. Of course, what boy would want to date her? Once they found out about her robot limbs, all hope was lost.

Scarlet stared at her and slowly stood up. "What did you call him?"

"The Captain?" Cinder was confused. "He told me that most people call him that."

Blinking at her in confusion, Scarlet plopped back down into her seat. Then her shoulders began shaking uncontrollably, and she doubled over in fits of laughter. She barely managed to gasp out words through the laughter. "Of course - he told you - I can't believe - "

Cinder still didn't get it. "Scarlet, what?"

The redhead finally got her giggles under control. "Cinder, no one calls Thorne Captain. He wishes people would, since that would inflate his ego even more, but no one does."

"Oh." Cinder didn't have much to say about that. "So I should call him Thorne, then?"

Scarlet shrugged. "I guess. I mean, you can keep calling him Captain, but that sounds kind of silly."

"Yeah." She felt silly now for calling Thorne by an unofficial title all evening. Cinder looked over to where Thorne and Samantha were still arguing. "I'm going to go home," she decided. She knew that the longer she stayed out, the more chance there was that Adri might catch her.

"Need a ride?" Scarlet offered. "I have a motorcycle."

Cinder paused and looked closely at her. "You ride... a motorcycle?" That was not the vehicle she would have imagined the pretty waitress riding.

Shrugging, Scarlet got up. "You got a problem with that?"

A grin spread over Cinder's face. She was going to like this girl, she was sure of that. "Not at all."

The two girls high-fived. "All right," Scarlet said, checking her watch. "I have a half-hour of my break left. You can go outside, I'm just going to run and tell my friend to cover for me if I don't get back in time."

"Oh, you don't have to drive me home -" Cinder tried to say, feeling bad that she might cause Scarlet to get in trouble with her boss.

Scarlet waved her off. "No, it's fine. It's probably better that you don't wait for Thorne. From the way things are looking over there, he'll probably be going home with that girl."

Cinder looked over. The two were kissing fiercely, wrapping around each other in a way that made her want to claw her eyes out. "Have they - have they been together for a long time?"

Looking her way, Scarlet snorted. "Of course not. The longest that Thorne's ever been with a girl is probably five weeks. He just jumps from girl to girl. I think he and Samantha got together... two weeks ago? Honestly, no one even keeps track anymore. By the way, my motorcycle's parked in the alleyway just off the main street." She shrugged and walked back to the cafe counter.

Cinder exited the cafe, heading toward the alley Scarlet had been talking about. By this time, most shops were closing their doors as stars started to wink into existence in the violet-tinged sky above. People were heading back to their cars, getting ready to go back home after an evening spent out. But the bars and nightclubs in the area were just getting started. She could hear music pumping and glasses clinking from inside the ones she passed. Already intoxicated people were stumbling in and out, some even vomiting from all the alcohol in their system. As she walked toward the alley, Cinder passed several shady looking people smoking or doing drugs.

Goosebumps prickled her skin as she stepped into the shadows of the alleyway. Something about this place didn't sit well with her. Cinder was about to turn and head back to the cafe to wait for Scarlet. But before she could do that, a person materialized right in front of her, blocking her exit to the street.

"Who are you?" he growled, a hulking silhouette in the light of the setting sun. The only part of him that Cinder could see clearly was his eyes, which glowed clear emerald green through the darkness.

"I'm nobody. Just... trying to get through." Cinder tried to push past him, but he blocked her easily with a muscled forearm. It was then that Cinder realized how much taller and brawnier he was. The top of her head barely came up to his shoulder, and she sensed that he was taller than he was showing since he was all slumped over.

"I'm not going to let anyone who comes into our alleyway go so fast," he told her, snatching her wrist. Cinder let out a yelp. She had heard stories about this kind of harassment in cities, but she had never expected to be a victim of it.

"Your alleyway?" she managed to squeak out.

"Yes, pretty girl. Our alleyway." With that, he grabbed her shoulders and spun her around, letting her watch as about a dozen more figures as big and strong as her captor melted out of the shadows. "We're the Wolf Pack. And you're being held by our Alpha."

Cinder tried to think through the panic racing through her veins. "If you think you're going to get ransom money for my freedom, that's not true. My adoptive mother hates me. If anything, she'll pay you to get me out of her sight."

The boy holding her snorted. "We don't care about money. We've got enough of that. What we want right now... is a new target to practice on."

Fear made her body feel icy cold. "What are you going to do to me?"

The rest of the gang closed in on her, suffocating Cinder with their living-on-the-streets smell. "Oh, don't be afraid," the voice in her ear cooed. She tried to edge away from him, but he only strengthened his grip. Then, with a single flick of his arm, he threw Cinder to the ground. She knew she should be thinking about her own survival, but for some reason, the only thought in her brain was that she had probably just dented her $5,000 titanium-plated metal leg. And her hand.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" the world above Cinder swam and blurred as a new figure raced into the scene. _Scarlet?_ Cinder tried to sit up, but everything was spinning spinning spinning. So she was forced to lie on the gritty ground and listen to screams of rage and punches being thrown and gang members being knocked to the ground.

"I hate you, Wolf!" she heard Scarlet scream. "I can't believe you would prey on a new girl! And a younger one, at that! YOU COWARDLY SCUM!"

More punches. "GO TO HELL!"

Then there were arms scooping her up, carrying her to a different alley. Cinder's blurry eyes could barely focus on Scarlet's face as she told her what had happened. "I'm so sorry, Cinder... I should never have left you alone."

The last thing she saw was the stars above, swimming and blurring and turning into crazy constellations.

* * *

Scarlet was shaking as she started the prized red motorcycle that had been a birthday gift from her Grand-mere when she turned seventeen last year. She couldn't believe what had happened. It was all stupid Giles's fault. He had stopped her as she was leaving the cafe, interrogating her on where she was going. Scarlet had run as fast as should could to the alley with her motorcycle so that Cinder wouldn't have to wait any longer. When she had entered the alley and saw that Cinder was nowhere in sight, she had known in her gut that something was very, very wrong.

The only thing that had worked to her advantage was her strength. After finding Cinder in the Wolf Pack's alley, she had charged at the gang members and started kicking and punching anyone in sight. The boys hadn't anticipated her fighting skills, so they had been very unprepared when she proved to be a competent opponent. Scarlet's grandma had taught her self-defense skills and armed her with a hand pistol when she was eleven. "This is a dangerous world, little Scarlet. You have to be prepared," she had said.

She didn't like using the pistol, especially to threaten people, but in situations like this it was necessary. Cinder must have hit her head because she had been close to knocked out when Scarlet found her in the alley. She had been rendered completely defenseless, and Scarlet had had no choice but to use the pistol to threaten Wolf. She had knocked him to the ground and held it at his head with one hand while the other scooped up Cinder.

_All right, what now?_ Scarlet had a feeling she shouldn't take Cinder home bruised and knocked unconscious- not that she even knew where the girl lived. If Thorne had been the one to drive her downtown, and they had only just met, that meant that Cinder had been running away for some reason. Luckily, she didn't have to make the decision.

At that moment, Cinder came around. She moaned softly from where Scarlet had seated her on the motorcycle. "Are you okay?" Scarlet asked touching her arm softly.

Cinder swayed like she was about to tumble off the motorcycle seat, and Scarlet grabbed her to keep her steady. "Cinder!"

She blinked several times and shook her head like she was just waking up. "Scarlet? What happened?"

"Oh, thank goodness you're okay," Scarlet breathed. "Those boys were rough with you."

Cinder looked her over. "You're bleeding."

Sure enough, blood was running from the knuckles of her right hand, which had split when she had punched Wolf and the other pack members. She wiped them off on her waitress apron. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Life on the farm had toughened Scarlet up a lot.

"Who were those boys?" Cinder asked, yanking one of her gloves off. Scarlet sucked in a breath, trying to hide her surprise at seeing that Cinder had a metal hand. She had never met anyone with a prosthetic before. Cinder began examining the metal joints, popping off some of the fingers and examining them closely before twisting the hand back together. She pulled up her pant leg and started the same process on a metal leg.

"That was the Wolf Pack," Scarlet explained. "They go to Commonwealth High, but most of the time they just cut class and smoke in the bathrooms. They always grab random people off the streets and beat them up, then leave them in the streets for the police to find. And Wolf - well, his real name is Ze'ev, actually - is their leader. Their _Alpha_ wolf. Aren't they so clever?"

Cinder scrunched up her nose. "Why aren't they arrested?"

Scarlet sighed. "The thing is, no one has ever actually caught them beating anyone up. Everyone knows it's them that does it, but no one has caught them in action yet. And the police can't really arrest someone if they have no proof. God, I hate Wolf so, so, much..."

"Crap." Cinder wasn't listening to Scarlet's rant anymore. She had pulled off her boot and was examining a metal foot. Scarlet stared at it for a moment, taking in the screws and bolts and wires, the grease packed between the joints. Abruptly, Cinder yanked the foot out of its socket so she was left with a disconnected foot and a bunch of wires hanging out of the bottom of the ankle. "It's dented." She growled in annoyance. "This thing was expensive!"

"I should probably take you home," Scarlet said. "Are you still dizzy?"

Cinder shook her head. "Much better. And thank you, if I haven't said that already. You really saved me out there."

Scarlet smiled. "That's what friends do."


	5. Chapter 5

Cinder groaned as the alarm she had set on her phone went off. She rolled over and smashed her face into her pillow, but the alarm kept on beeping, a sound that pounded against the inside of her skull. Cinder set an alarm for herself every day, using the most annoying sounds to get her to wake up. If she didn't set one, she would probably just sleep the entire day. Finally, she grabbed her phone and turned it off, taking a few more minutes to lie in her bed before she forced herself to get up.

Not that her bed was that comfy. After Scarlet had dropped her off at the apartment and she had snuck back in through the air vent, she had scoured all of the closets for a spare comforter. It turned out that Adri and her daughters had taken them all, leaving only a lumpy pillow for Cinder. She had used her jacket as a blanket and curled up on the bare mattress.

The only good thing that had happened all night was that Adri hadn't caught her when she reentered the apartment. After locking her door, she had left Cinder alone, thinking there was no way she could possibly get out. Cinder felt a twinge of satisfaction at proving her wrong.

Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Cinder tried to take a step - and immediately fell on her face. She glanced down and saw her empty metal ankle, a tangle of red and yellow wires poking out from the bottom. She sighed. "Totally forgot about that."

The events of last night came back to her. She still couldn't believe she had been kidnapped by a gang on her first night in her new city. Well, not kidnapped, exactly, but still. More like abducted. That explained the grating feeling in her head when she moved it too quickly. Cinder could recall being thrown to the ground in the alleyway and hitting her head. Oh well. There was no way she was going to the doctor. She would just have to deal with it.

She scooped up the metal foot from the ground where she had left it last night and inspected it. The toes were twisted at strange angles, the wires were frayed, the bolts were rusty, and the plating was dented. The wires and bolts had been messed up for a while now since Cinder had had that foot since she was eleven, but the dents and damage to the joints were the final straw. She needed to replace that piece of crap.

Cinder pulled out her wire puller and carefully joined the wires of the foot and her ankle, making sure to match them up right. Then she used her screwdriver to bolt the two pieces back together. She got up from the ground and carefully tested it, making sure it would hold when she walked. She felt the same sense of smallness, of being cramped that she felt every time that she put that foot back on. Garan had routinely checked her foot to make sure it was still the right size and all the parts were working, but Adri had neglected that duty once he had died. Most of the time Cinder could make small adjustments when a screw was loose or a wire was frayed, but the one thing she couldn't do was convince her adoptive mother to buy her a new foot. She desperately needed a bigger one, but Adri continued to insist that they were too expensive. Which didn't make sense, really, because it was Cinder's money and she was supposed to be able to decide what to do with it.

After all, Cinder was the only source of income in their family. Her mechanic business had helped with their financial matters, but now that they were in a much bigger city she didn't think she could continue it. There was no central market in Commonwealth City like there had been in her old town, so she didn't have anywhere she could operate from. Also, there were probably a lot of older, more-experienced mechanics in the city. No one would want to do business with a sixteen-year-old girl when they could be serviced by a professional. She had brought up these concerns with Adri once they had decided to move, but Adri had just shrugged them off. "You'll figure something out," she'd said. Adri didn't care how she made money, as long as she could deposit it into her hands.

There was no other choice. Cinder had to find work at one of the mechanic shops in the city. Not only did she have to make money under Adri's command, but she also had to find some way to buy a new foot. The dents in the plating had rendered the foot almost unusable. It was barely a hunk of metal now. At least her hand wasn't too badly damaged by her fall.

She got ready hastily, pulling on a rumpled shirt, cargo pants, and her gloves, of course. As she stepped into her boots and reached for her bedroom door, she suddenly remembered that it was locked. Cinder grinned. She loved having to annoy her stepmother, especially when she had a valid reason to do so.

"AAAAADRI!" she hollered, hoping Adri was asleep so that Cinder could have the pleasure of disturbing her beauty sleep. She pounded on the door. "I NEED YOU TO UNLOCK MY DOOR!"

No answer. "LET ME OUTTTTTTTT!" Cinder screeched. She continued slamming the door with her palms, rattling it in its hinges. Finally, she heard Adri's footsteps clomping down the hallway, each step placed carefully on the wood floor so that they formed a drumbeat of rage.

"CINDER, SHUT UP!"

Cinder smirked. "I'll shut up once you let me out!" she called through the door. Adri's footsteps had stopped. She could picture her stepmother wrinkling her brow in suspicion and pursing her lips in annoyance, just on the other side of the flimsy plywood door.

"Where do you need to go?" Adri asked, her voice scratchy from sleep.

Raising her chin, Cinder spoke without a hint of doubt in her voice. "I'm going to find work," she told her, enunciating the word work in a way that made it clear she knew Adri had no intention of finding work herself. She doubted that Adri had worked a day in her life.

She could practically hear Adri's frown. "You already have work. You own a business."

Cinder wanted to laugh at how clueless Adri was. Did she really not understand that high schoolers can't just start professional businesses on their own? "I already told you, that's not going to work here. I need to get a job at a mechanic shop."

Silence followed. Adri was skeptical.

Cinder sighed and played her last card. "Look, do you want me to make money or not? Because I'm perfectly fine letting this family spiral into poverty, and then the social service workers will take Pearl and Peony away from you."

That did the trick.

* * *

Finding work at a mechanic shop was easier said than done.

Cinder had expected to be able to just walk in and ask to do a job interview. What kind of business wouldn't want an extra worker, especially a highly competent one like her? But as it turned out, no one wanted to hire her. Cinder had been walking around the city all day, checking out nearly every mechanic shop. Three of them had taken one look at her and turned her away. Two had interviewed her, then rejected her. Cinder was extremely frustrated with the fact that they only rejected her because she was a girl. No one ever expected girls to be good at mechanics. Even when she had demonstrated her vast knowledge of mechanics, engineering, physics, and mathematics. Each time she entered a new shop, Cinder had hoped for at least one worker who would see her with fresh eyes, who would look past her skinny girlish frame and see a hardworking mechanic instead of a little girl.

She stood in front of the last stop on her route. The last mechanic shop in Commonwealth City. If she couldn't get a job here, all hope was lost. Cinder steeled her nerves. _No matter what, I'm not letting them drive me away,_ she thought.

Cinder strode forward with confidence, pushed open the door of the shop, and...

Tripped over her own feet.

Stumbling on her unsteady ankle and too-small foot, Cinder had to grab the doorframe to keep her balance. Not exactly the grand entrance she had been aiming for.

The workers in the shop - all big, burly, tattooed men, of course - had barely glanced up at her entrance. Cinder looked around. Just like all the other stores she had been to that day, the interior was a mechanic's haven. The workspace was separated into different sections by sheets of chicken wire, where the mechanics all worked on different projects. Tables lined the walls filled with bins of supplies: gears, screws, nuts, bolts, and a million other little pieces. All kinds of tools hung from hooks on the walls. Cinder's hands itched to grab some different parts and put them together. Over in one corner, a mechanic was helping a customer fix his car.

Finally, one of the mechanics looked up from his station. "How can I help you?" he grunted, wiping grease-stained hands off on his shirt.

Cinder took a deep breath. This was the moment she had been preparing for. "I would like to interview for a job here," she said loudly and clearly.

The man stared at her. "You? A job? As a... janitor?"

Another man, even more muscular than the first, chimed in. "Or maybe a maid?" he asked with a smirk.

"Or a cook?" came another voice. Now Cinder knew they were making fun of her.

"A seamstress!"

"A nurse!"

"A masseuse!"

"Stop!" Cinder cried out, as more men listed the stereotypical jobs of women. She fought to be heard over the din. "I - WANT - TO - WORK - AS - A -MECHANIC!"

This brought on more bouts of laughter. Cinder clenched her teeth. She was sick of being laughed at. She would've bet all her money that she was smarter than most of these men. They had only been hired because they had the right look - the typical burly mechanic look. Cinder needed to prove that she would be as good of a mechanic as anyone else.

She stomped over to where the mechanic in the corner was analyzing the customer's broken car, still trying to figure out what was wrong with it. "That car has a faulty gearbox, probably caused by inadequate lubrication, which would mean there is water contamination or particulate contamination in the car. You need to replace the problematic gear synchros that are responsible for housing the individual gears in your transmission."

**Author's Note: I know nothing about mechanics, I just Googled a bunch of stuff**

Cinder went up to the station of the mechanic who had first noticed her. "The wires on your motherboard are connected wrong, that's why the machine isn't working." He immediately scrambled to realign everything, not wanting to look like a fool.

She continued examining different projects that the mechanics were working on, often finding mistakes they had made and rattling off the causes and solutions of the problems. By the time she was done offering everyone advice, the mechanics were all staring at her, this young girl who had just barged into their mechanic shop and shown her true worth.

Cinder stared back at them defiantly.

The mechanic working in the corner with the car was the first to speak. "What's your name, girl?"

**Sorry that the rest of the gang hasn't appeared yet! I'm writing as fast as I can.**


	6. Chapter 6

"Cinder!" a voice that was way too enthusiastic for that early in the morning broke through the luxurious haze of dreamland Cinder had been floating in. "Wake up!"

A heavy weight fell on top of Cinder, who was curled up on her side like a baby on top of the mattress. "Cinder!"

She groaned, regretting not locking her door. She reached for her blanket to pull over her head - and then realized there was no blanket.

Two fingers carefully pried her eyelids open. "Rise and shine, my sunshine!" a voice sweetly singsonged. Cinder reached up to knock Peony's hand away. "Go away."

Cinder could picture Peony's shrug. "Too bad for you! It's our first day of school and we are _not_ going to be late."

"Seriously?" Cinder sighed. She had forgotten that today they would be starting at Commonwealth High. Judging from what she had heard from Thorne and Scarlet, and the whole debacle with the Wolf Pack, she was not looking forward to it.

"I am sooooo excited!" her stepsister exclaimed. "I can't wait to meet new friends!" Cinder had no doubt that Peony would easily make friends. Her sunny personality seemed to attract other kids like a magnet. Cinder, on the other hand, repelled people. Not that there was anything wrong with that. At her old school, she had had Iko, and that was enough. But now... she was all alone.

"All right, fine, I'll get up," Cinder conceded. Peony scrambled off her bed. "What time is it?"

Her sister was out the door before she finished asking the question, probably running off to put on her best clothes and do her hair and makeup. Cinder grabbed her phone to check the time. 6:30. She hadn't been up that early in years!

"PEONY!"

* * *

A few hours later, Cinder, Pearl, and Peony were climbing the stairs down from their apartment. Adri kissed Pearl and Peony on the cheeks and sniffled about t how she would be so lonely without them that day. Cinder was given nothing more than a cursory glance and a slight wrinkle of Adri's nose. She could tell that Adri thought she looked like a mess, but she really didn't care. Cinder was wearing her usual outfit of cargo pants and a T-shirt. She hadn't made much of an effort with her hair, barely running a comb through it.

Pearl and Peony, on the other hand, were all dolled up to look their best for their first day at Commonwealth High. Cinder wanted to scream in Adri's face about the reason why they were running out of money was that Adri ordered all of their clothes to be custom made, if not that, then from the fanciest designer clothing brands. That morning, Adri had taken the time to give both girls makeovers as well, curling their hair and caking their faces. If Adri thought that wearing a pound of makeup somehow made you look more beautiful, she was wrong.

They exited the Phoenix Tower Apartments into the chilly morning air. Adri decided that they would walk to school even though it was a mile away because their family didn't own a car (it had been sold to help pay for the move) and it was too expensive to take a bus or a taxi. The second they were around the corner and out of sight of the apartment building, though, Pearl reached into her messenger bag for her cell phone (apparently in high school, it wasn't fashionable to wear a backpack).

"What are you doing, Pearl?" Peony asked.

"Calling a taxi," Pearl sniffed, rolling her eyes as if that should have been obvious. "There's no way I'm walking that far to school, for God's sake! I mean, I'm wearing high heels."

Cinder glared at her. "We don't have enough money for a taxi," she reminded her. If Pearl wanted to waste their family's money, then it would be her fault when they went bankrupt. But what really irked Cinder was the fact that she had earned all the money for them! It should be spent on a new foot for Cinder, not an overpriced taxi ride for Pearl because she was wearing the wrong shoes.

"Sure we do," Pearl rolled her eyes again. "Our father left behind plenty of money for us."

Cinder gaped openmouthed at her. Did Adri really not tell her daughters about how little money they had? Pearl clearly didn't realize that the only reason they still had a roof over their heads was that Cinder had found work in the mechanic shop. She shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'm walking to school."

Peony looked back and forth between them, torn between her sister and her adoptive sister. She dashed over to Cinder. "I need the exercise," she told Cinder, who smiled and ruffled her shiny black hair.

After a long walk that caused Cinder to mentally curse Adri for not letting her buy a bigger foot and her human foot blistered and aching, they arrived at Commonwealth High. It was exactly how she had pictured: a rowdy yard full of boys tackling each other and girls gossiping, a collection of school buildings that looked like they had been built last century, and harried-looking teachers trying to get into the school. Peony squealed and clapped her hands together. "This is going to be amazing!"

Cinder wished that she could share her optimism. This new school looked to her like another place where she would get tormented because of her prosthetics. Peony seemed to read her mind. "Don't worry, Cinder. No one's going to be mean to you." She looked down at Cinder's hands. "You're wearing your gloves?"

Cringing, Cinder tugged the hem of her left glove a little farther over her wrist. "Yeah. No one needs to know about my situation." Peony was frowning, but she dropped the subject. "We're supposed to go to the main office, right?"

"Yeah," Cinder agreed. "We need to get our schedules."

Inside the office, she was surprised to see Thorne. "Hey!" he called when he saw her. "Cinder!" He was reclining in one of the chairs just outside the door to the principal's office.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. Peony unhelpfully whispered into her ear, "He's really cute."

Thorne shrugged. "Oh, the usual. Got one too many bad grades. Cut some classes."

"Oh." She didn't know what else to say. She was shocked by how casual he was acting about all of this. Coming to the principal's office must be a regular occurrence for him. So Cinder turned away and walked up to the receptionist at the front desk. "Hi. I'm Cinder Linh, and this is my sister Peony. We were supposed to come to get our schedules?"

The woman smiled. "Oh, you must be the new students! I'm Ms. Lee. Let me just pull up your files really quick..." She saw something on the computer screen that made her frown. "Wait, we only have students registered under the names Selene and Peony Linh. Is that a mistake?"

"Oh, no, Cinder is just a nickname. Selene is my real name."

"Oh, that clears things up." Ms. Lee went into a back room to print their schedules. Cinder remembered the day back when she was twelve and Pearl was thirteen, and her stepsister had thought it would be funny to call her Cinderella because she was always doing the chores. Eventually, Cinderella had been shortened to Cinder, and that name had just stuck. At first, Cinder had been annoyed by this, but now she couldn't imagine being called anything other than Cinder. It suited her for some reason.

"Here you go, ladies." Ms. Lee handed Cinder and Peony their schedules.

Cinder immediately saw the mistake on hers. "I think you made a mistake, Ms. Lee. It looks like I'm enrolled in all the senior classes. I'm only a sophomore."

Ms. Lee shook her head. "No, Cinder. The placement test you took a few days ago indicates that you are ready for senior-level classes, and even some honors classes."

Cinder looked back at her schedule. Sure enough, she was enrolled in the twelfth-grade honors classes for science and math, her two strongest subjects. This wasn't good. Now not only would she be the robot girl, but she would also be the robot girl who skipped two grades. She tried to decline the opportunity politely. "I'm humbled that you think I'm so smart, but I would really prefer to be with kids my own age. I - I think it would be better for my social development."

The receptionist shook her head. "Sorry, Cinder, but placement can't be changed. If this is a matter of low self-esteem, I have to say I think you'll do great in the older kids' classes."

She started to protest again, but then gave up, knowing that Ms. Lee was as unbending as steel. The sisters walked out of the office. Not for the first time, Cinder wished she could just be normal.

"I'm so proud of you," Peony told her, trying to cheer her up. "You know, I don't think the other kids will think you're a freak. I think they'll be intimidated by how smart you are!"

"Thanks, Peony," Cinder mumbled. "I'll see you later."

"Make some friends!" Peony called over her shoulder as the girls parted to go to their separate classrooms.

"Yeah, right," Cinder muttered to herself. She checked over her schedule once again. The typical subjects were listed: English, math, science, history, as well as the specialized classes she had enrolled in: Mandarin Chinese, art, and the class she was most excited for - mechanics and engineering. Cinder was extremely excited to receive some formal education in mechanics since she had basically taught herself ever since Garan died.

She was making her way to her first class, English, when a tightly knit pack of high schoolers walked by. Without anyone telling her, Cinder could immediately tell that this was the popular crowd: the kids everyone admired and wanted to be. She could tell in the way they walked, striding along without hesitation. She could tell by the way kids scrambled to get out of their way as they glided through the halls, like a pack of sharks scaring away all the little fish. She could tell by their clothes, fancy designer clothes that clearly conformed to the latest fashion trends. But she could tell most of all by the way the looked at her as she ducked into a side hallway to get out of their way. They took in her dirty clothes and baggy cargo pants with raised eyebrows and snickers, looking over her as if she was nothing more than a slug. Right away, Cinder pinpointed their leader: a tall girl with long auburn curls and perfect makeup, her arm slung around the shoulders of a boy. She had seen girls like this before; superficial popular girls who only cared about their looks. But she couldn't deny that this girl was beautiful. It was nearly impossible to look away from her snow-white skin and sharp blue eyes, even as she sneered in disgust at Cinder. Her face looked familiar for some reason...

And then it hit Cinder: this was Levana Blackburn, known all over the country for her modeling. She had been featured in numerous magazine ads, that perfect body of hers plastered on billboards and television screens. She had had no idea that Levana even went to high school, much less in Commonwealth City.

And then Cinder noticed the boy Levana had her arm around, and her heart literally skipped a beat.

**Author's Note: I know that Levana is like ten or fifteen years old than Cinder and the gang, but in this story, she's around the same age as Kai. Also, I've noticed that a lot of fanfics and fanart portray Levana with brown or blond hair, but in the first book Marissa Meyer describes Levana's glamour as having auburn hair, so I decided to go with that.**


	7. Chapter 7

It was Kaito Lee. _The_ Kaito Lee. The super famous movie star and aspiring singer. He was even more famous than Levana, at least in Cinder's opinion. Literally every time his name was mentioned Iko would go into her full-on fangirling mode. And there was a reason he had so many fans, including Cinder. He wasn't like other teen movie stars, who tended to be spoiled brats with overinflated egos. He was incredibly kind to all of his fans, taking the time to reply to every comment on his social media accounts and YouTube channel. Even if he was pressed for time, he would always stop to sign an autograph or take a selfie with a fan. It was his genuine goodness that caused him to be such a popular actor. And yes, Cinder had to admit, he was also very handsome.

Cinder stared at his back as the pack of popular kids retreated down the hallway. And then he did something she never would have expected. He actually turned around and winked at her. Like, smiled and _winked_ at her.

Her mouth dropped open. Why would he even notice a nobody like her?

Cinder shook herself, trying to rouse from her fangirling stupor. She was not normally the type of girl who got all weak-kneed and giggly over boys. But her morning classes still passed in a daze, her brain replaying that moment over and over again. She told herself to forget about it. She was sure it didn't mean anything. After all, from what Cinder had seen, he was dating Levana Blackburn! But her stupid heart refused to stop fluttering.

Sometimes your heart tells you something different than your brain does.

* * *

When the bell rang signaling lunchtime, it was like a mass prison exodus. The classroom was filled with the sounds of chairs screeching on the floor as kids hurried to pack up their bags. Out in the hallways, it was even worse. Cinder shrank against the wall to avoid being trampled by the stampeding hordes of kids racing to meet up with their friends.

She got her tray of food from the cafeteria ladies as fast as possible, wanting to get to a table and decompress. Her teachers had quickly introduced Cinder to the class, and then they had gotten right on with that day's lesson. It had been nearly impossible to follow along since all of her classes were in the middle of units, and no one had offered to catch her up.

Cinder was about to sit down at the first empty table she saw when a girl materialized out of nowhere and held out a hand to block her. "Sorry, this is our table," the girl said.

"Oh, okay," Cinder muttered, backing away. She didn't know there were _reserved seats_ in school cafeterias.

Now she had to find somewhere else to sit. Cinder instinctively looked around for Peony but changed her mind about sitting with her when she saw her sister entering the cafeteria surrounded by a bunch of other girls, laughing and chatting like they had known each other for years. So when she heard someone calling her name, telling her to come to sit with them, she was immediately grateful.

It was Thorne. Cinder's stomach flipped over when she realized that he was sitting with the popular group that had passed her in the hallway. But she couldn't exactly ignore him, so she awkwardly edged over to the table. No one except Thorne and Kai made any move to let her sit down. The two boys squeezed apart, making a spot for Cinder at the already crowded table.

"Hey," Kai said, smiling at her as she sat down. Levana glared at her.

"Everyone, this is Cinder," Thorne announced, breaking the tension. "She's new here at Commonwealth High, so let's make her feel welcome!"

No one said anything for a second. Then all the kids at the table continued their conversations as if nothing had happened, completely ignoring Cinder. Thorne tried to include her, asking some questions about how her day had been, but she gave the shortest answers possible and soon he gave up. She sat there picking at her food, listening to the high schoolers talking and trying to ignore the fact that the side of Kai's leg was pressed against hers.

The conversation at this table seemed to follow a very rigid pattern. Someone, usually a girl, would squeal "Oh my gosh! I totally forgot to tell you guys that (insert random bit of gossip here)." Then everyone would go on to discuss that, some people might argue a little, and then a new person would offer up a topic. Cinder, a careful observer, soaked in information about everything from what kind of dress some celebrity wore to a press conference and who was dating who at Commonwealth High and more. By the end of lunch, she was thoroughly sick of it.

Another bell rang, indicating it was time for kids to stack their lunch trays and go run around outside. Thorne's table got up, still chatting among themselves. No one was paying attention to Cinder, who decided to slip away and go to the library or something.

She ended up heading to her next class, mechanics and engineering, early. Maybe she could talk to the teacher, try to get a grasp on what they were learning at this time of year. Cinder stopped outside the classroom, about to knock on the door when she heard voices coming from inside. Curious, she opened it cautiously.

"Why hello there!" a jubilant voice called from the front of the classroom. Cinder looked up to see a man standing in front of a SmartBoard displaying a diagram. A handful of kids were sitting at desks around the classroom. To Cinder's left, there was a wall of windows and a door than separated the mechanics classroom and the tech lab.

"What brings you to Nerdville?" a boy called from his seat. Cinder was incredibly confused.

"I - my next class is here, and since I'm new, I wanted to talk to the teacher..." she tried to explain, stumbling over her words.

"Well, since you're here anyway, want to join our meeting?" the man at the front, who she guessed was the teacher asked.

"I don't understand," Cinder said. "Join what?"

"Robotics club," came a soft voice. Cinder glanced over to the speaker. It was from a tiny girl sitting in the corner, with a sweet heart-shaped face and long blond hair. She noticed that the blonde was the only girl in the room.

This was Cinder's chance to finally be a part of something. To be accepted by some people - even if they were also nerds. Everything had felt wrong when she was sitting with Thorne and his friends because that wasn't where she belonged. This was what she was meant to do.

Maybe she could even make a friend.

She met the other girl's gaze and smiled.

"Of course I'll join," Cinder said.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry I haven't updated in forever! I've been really busy with school lately. I'll probably only write on weekends from now on.**

Laughing and chatting, Cinder shoved her way out of the robotics classroom with the rest of the club. She already felt more at home with these kids than she had with Thorne's group. They were kids like her: thinkers, inventors, innovators, geeks. It was so nice to be able to talk about mechanics with other people; Peony and Iko both knew nothing about the things she liked. Her head was already bursting with new ideas and plans for the robot that the club would be building.

Cinder especially liked Cress, the girl who she had been sitting next to. She could tell that Cress was also in need of a friend, and she was more than willing to fill that position. The girls had already exchanged phone numbers.

"See you!" she called to Cress as they parted ways in the hallway. Cress glanced over her shoulder, long hair swooshing, and gave Cinder a huge smile.

_Maybe this school won't be as bad as I thought, _Cinder thought to herself, still smiling after her new friend.

**Okay, that line was really cliche****, but I couldn't think of anything else.**

* * *

Once school was over, Cinder walked outside into the crisp fall air. She texted Peony.

Cinder: Going to the mechanic shop, u ok to walk home by urself?

Peony: I'm good thx

Cinder tucked her phone away, praying that Peony would be fine. A young girl like her seemed like the perfect target for that Wolf Pack that had grabbed Cinder. But she didn't have time to worry about her adoptive sister. It was time for her shift at the mechanic shop. And judging from her first time working there, it was not going to be fun.

Despite Cinder proving that she was a much more competent mechanic than all the burly jocks in there, they still seemed determined to challenge her at every turn. They had called her to fix the most difficult problems, build the most complicated prototypes, and more. They had yelled at her if she took too long or if she was rude to a customer, they had intentionally shoved her and spilled fuel on her and stepped on her feet. Clearly, they had no sense of etiquette.

But maybe that was their goal. Maybe they were doing all this to her just to see if she was tough enough to work amongst them. And if this was a test, Cinder had no intention of failing it. She was not the kind of weak princess to crumbled under the smallest of blows. She would never back down. Adri forcing her to earn money for their family wasn't even Cinder's main incentive. Her pride was at stake here.

She walked the rest of the way with her chin up and her stride determined, ready to face whatever was in there. But she never expected what that afternoon would bring.

* * *

Cinder scanned around the mechanics room, checking to see if anyone was watching her. Business had come to a lull as evening crept upon them. She had been waiting for this moment for hours now, like a crouching tiger waiting to pounce. Quick as a wink, she yanked off her left boot, propping the prosthetic upon her knee. She had felt the joints come loose earlier during her shift, the screws and bolts shifting ever so slightly in a way that only a trained mechanic could detect. _I hate this piece of junk, _she thought. Her prosthetic foot wasn't going to hold up much longer.

She used a wrench and a screwdriver to tighten it up, making sure the metal pieces would stay together. Cinder was crouched down on her chair behind her workstation so that no one would see her. She planned to keep her prosthetics secret for as long as possible.

_Bang! _Something plopped down on top of her table, making it shake. The sensation vibrated through Cinder's bones. She whipped up, ready to yell at whatever insolent mechanic had decided to disturb her. But instead of a grime-smeared face, huge tattooed muscles, and a mean scowl, she was met with perfectly tousled black hair and stunning coppery eyes. The annoyance on her face melted into astonishment, and then nervousness coupled with a strange fluttery sensation in her chest. And then she remembered that her metal prosthetic was hanging out of the bottom of her pant leg, in plain sight for anyone to see. She hastily crossed one leg behind the other.

"Cinder?" Kai seemed just as surprised to see her as she was to see him. It looked like the sound had been him slapping his hands down on the tabletop. "I'm looking for a mechanic to help me?"

Not meeting his eyes, she mumbled, "How may I help you?"

"You work here?" He sounded incredulous.

"Yes."

"A mechanic?"

She nodded and repeated her question. "How may I help you?"

Instead of answering, Kai grinned at her, making it impossible to look away from him. "You're not quite what I was expecting."

Cinder shrugged. She couldn't hold his gaze any longer, so she reached for her toolbox, preparing for something new to fix. "What brings you here today?"

He finally got down to business. "Come with me and I'll show you." Cinder gulped, hastily shoving her metal foot into her boot and tugging the hem of her pant leg over the cuff. She was expecting he needed help fixing a huge TV or a private jet or something. What she was not expecting him to bring her to was an ancient car, a small white model that was clean and sleek but still outdated. Cinder thought that famous people like Kai would have the very latest, most expensive cars, not old ones like this.

"Nainsi 8.6?" she asked, examining the logo on the hood of the car. "What's wrong with it? It looks to be in fine condition."

"I can't get it to turn on," said Kai as Cinder examined the car. "It was working fine one day, and the next, nothing."

Cinder opened the hood to look at the engine. "Why isn't a... more experienced mechanic fixing it?"

"The other mechanics here tried, but they couldn't figure it out. Someone said I should show it to you. They said you're one of the best here. I was expecting an old man."

"Oh." Cinder was partly smug that they hadn't been able to fix it, partly annoyed that she would probably have to work overtime. "I'm not seeing any obvious problems with your car. Sometimes they just get worn out. Maybe it's time to upgrade to a new model."

"Sorry, I would really prefer not to do that," Kai said, smiling sheepishly. "This is my first car. It's sentimental."

"Uh...sure," she said. "I'll just go run its diagnostics to figure out what's wrong." Before she could go do that, a tinny ringtone started coming from her pocket. She checked her phone. Iko. "One second," she said to Kai. She stepped aside.

"CIIIIINDER!" Iko's squeal was so loud that Cinder flinched. Kai raised an eyebrow, the sound so loud that even he could hear it. "I MISS YOU SO MUCH! I'M BARELY SURVIVING WITHOUT YOU!"

"Jeez, Iko, keep it down," Cinder exclaimed. "I'm at work."

"BUT-"

"And guess who my customer is?" Cinder grinned, barely able to keep her voice down. "Kaito Lee."

"WHAT?" Iko screeched into her ear, nearly making Cinder drop her phone. "KAI?" Cinder grimaced, knowing that Kai could hear her. She couldn't meet his eyes.

Over the phone, Iko was still fangirling. "I can't even - I'm just - that is the craziest thing ever!"

"Iko!" Cinder hissed. "He's right in front of me! And he can hear you!"

Silence. Then, "YOU DIDN'T TELL ME THAT HE'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU?"

Cinder sighed. "Kai, please say hi to my friend Iko, who is a huge fan."

Kai dashed another easy grin. "Hi, Iko! Nice to meet you! Cinder's fixing my car right now. She's amazing." Cinder blushed, staring at the floor. Iko seemed stunned into not being able to speak.

"Anyway," Cinder put in after the awkward silence had stretched for too long, "That's enough, Iko. I'll talk to you later."

"You better give me ALL the details!" Iko managed to say before Cinder ended the call.

Kai laughed. "You don't see a personality like that every day."

"I know, " Cinder sighed. "Sometimes it's awesome and sometimes it's exhausting."

And for some reason, after Iko's humiliating call, Cinder didn't feel shy in front of him anymore. Maybe it was the way he smiled. Or the way he laughed. But it was probably just the joy of having someone to talk to, someone who wasn't judging her or criticizing her or making fun of her. They talked as Cinder fixed his car, staying in the shop long after it closed. She felt an inexplicable connection drawing them together, and she wondered if Kai felt it too.

Finally, Cinder couldn't pretend to be fixing his car any longer. He seemed to realize that and pulled out his wallet. "Do you take cash?"

She waved him off. "Oh, you don't need to pay. It'll be my pleasure."

"No, really, let me," he insisted. "After a while, you get sick of the movie star treatment."

With those words, both of them seemed to remember that Kai was a movie star and Cinder was a nobody; he was a popular high schooler and she was a mechanics geek. They had absolutely nothing in common. They had no reason to spend time together. And yet Cinder found herself craving more of it.

"Well...I'll see you around, I guess," he smiled. That smile once again made her heart wince. He opened the door, so slowly, almost reluctantly. But maybe she was making that part up. _He has a girlfriend_, she reminded herself.

"Bye." The words sounded sad, too final. He gave her one last grin, one last bit of happiness before he disappeared and left Cinder staring around at a large, lonely shop.


	9. Chapter 9

Cress sighed happily to herself, skipping along the sidewalk as a breeze whipped her waist-length hair around. When she was younger, having long hair had sometimes annoyed her because it got in the way of everything. But now she enjoyed having something to fiddle with when she was anxious or nervous, something to hide behind. It was almost like a curtain between her and the rest of the world.

Right now she felt like she was floating on top of the world, elevated by a cloud of pure joy that she hadn't felt in years. Because she had a friend. A real friend, not like the fake ones who had been nice to her for about a week before "dumping" her for cooler girls. Cress could tell that Cinder was the kind of friend who would stick around. Who would be there for her. Who would supply the friendship Cress had craved since she was little.

"Look! It's Loony Moony!" called a jeering voice from across the street. Cress stared at the ground, happy mood gone. "Walking home by yourself? Where are all your friends? Oh, that's right, you don't have any!" The kids erupted into laughter. She knew that she should be used to this now. She knew that she should have had a snappy comeback for their taunts, or at the very least an unfazed eye roll. After all, this had been happening for years. But Cress never quite got used to the sting of the teasing. She could feel the heat of embarrassment in her face. Ducking her head, she hurried away.

Glad to finally reach her street, she climbed up the steps of her family's uber-modern, environmentally friendly and ecologically sustainable house. Her father, Sage Darnel, had designed the house with the intent of raising a family in the world of highly advanced technology. With Cress, he had definitely succeeded in getting her interested in coding and programming. Working with technology was the only thing that made Cress feel like she was worth something. It was essentially her only pastime.

Unlocking the door, she was met with an empty house since her father was still at work. He had been a leading scientist and doctor of the Commonwealth Hospital Medical Research Team, but he had become a science teacher at the high school to be closer to Cress. It was nice for him to be around more since he was the only other person Cress shared the house with. Her mother had divorced him when Cress was very young, and their family had split up: Cress and her father had stayed in Commonwealth City, and her mother and her little sister had moved far away. Her heart ached for her sister, wanting some company after the long day.

As fast as she could, Cress kicked her shoes off and raced up the stairs to her bedroom. She was met with the usual mess: computer screens left on, bed unmade, dirty clothes and papers strewn across the floor. She ignored all of it, smiling around at the newly decorated room. Recently, Cress and her father had redecorated her formerly plain room. She had been begging for a satellite-themed room since she was little, and he had finally caved to her begging. Together, they had bought new furniture, all sleek and gray like a real space station, and a new bedspread covered in crescent moons, inspired by her name. They had painted the walls shiny silver with a pretend skylight in the roof and windows in the walls - they were actually screens that flicked through different images, from the Earth in all its blue-and-green glory to the glowing silver moon to constellations scattered through the night sky. When she looked around, she felt like she was actually in a space station.

Cress went to one of the screens on the wall and tapped it to turn it on. Luckily for her, her father had been so thrilled that she was interested in technology that he had been willing to buy her tons of screens to use for various ongoing projects. Over the years, her interests had evolved from science to politics to geography and more, and she was always happy to use technology to research or record ideas or create slideshows.

Once she had turned on the monitor, she pressed the icon for a voice command. "Call Little Cress," she said. Her father had helped her set up the screen to be able to initiate video calls to other people's iPads, phones, or computers. Cress beamed as her little sister's ever-cheerful face blinked into sight on the large screen.

"Hi, Big Sister!" Little Cress chirped. "I missed you."

"Missed you too," Cress couldn't help being exuberant when around her sister; Little Cress's enthusiasm was infectious. She wished, for about the millionth time, that they still lived together. The day her mom and Little Cress moved out had probably been the saddest day of her life. Cress had only been about ten, the age that her sister was now. Their parents had fought fiercely over who would take custody of them after they got divorced. In court, both parents had been so desperate to keep the children that the only solution had been to split them up. Little Cress, only about four years old, had screamed and cried when being taken away from Cress; she loved her so much. After all, the nickname Little Cress had come from her following Cress around when she was a toddler, even dressing like her and copying everything she did. Cress hadn't seen her sister in person in three years. The last time they had been together was their great-grandma's funeral. Apparently their parents hated each other so much that they couldn't even bear to be in the others' presence. It made her sad just thinking about their torn-apart family.

"Little Cress, you'll never believe what happened today," she said excitedly. "I made a friend!"

Her sister squealed. It had been so, so long since Cress had had a friend. She knew her social status was pathetic, but she couldn't help it. It was in her nature to be shy and bookish. Somehow, she seemed to repel friends. Or maybe the popular kids who tortured her told all the other kids to ignore her. "What's her name? Does she like programming? What kinds of clothes does she wear? How did you meet?"

Cress laughed at her sister's outburst. Curiosity ran in the family. "Her name's Cinder," she told Little Cress. "She doesn't code, but she likes mechanics, and that's sort of close. She joined Robotics Club. She wears...baggy clothes, like cargo pants and T-shirts."

"So a techy nerd like you," Little Cress smiled.

That could not be denied.

* * *

After a long talk with Little Cress, she flopped back on her bed. It was always nice to see her sister, but her presence constantly reminded Cress of what she had lost. She pushed the sad thoughts away. Today was a day to be happy. After all, she had made a new friend.

Cress hopped to the floor, grabbing the lever that made her bed fold up and disappear into the wall. This revealed the panel on the floor normally hidden beneath the bed, which she pulled open. This was a secret compartment she had found that even her dad didn't know about. She dug through the mess of junk in there, prized possessions that she hadn't wanted to throw away, until she found what she wanted.

A notebook. Well-worn and beaten-up, creases showing in the cover, the shiny silver crescent moon Cress had painted on fading. This was her vault where she stored hopes and dreams, plans for the future, lists of achievements, every wish and secret and deep desire and optimistic aspiration she had ever had. This was a notebook of only positive things. Cress believed that there was no room in your life for negativity. Why waste time writing about all her problems when she could write about things she was looking forward to? She flipped through, searching the silver-trimmed pages for her latest entry. A bucket list for the school year.

_Cress Darnel's Senior Year Bucket List_

_1\. Make a friend. A real one, not the girls who pretend they're my friend and then leave me two days later. Teachers don't count. Neither do animals._

_2\. Talk to my crush. I'm pretty sure Carswell has never said one word to me. Even if he doesn't like me, it would be nice to be noticed. If I go off to college without ever having an interaction with him, my poor, desperate heart will break._

_3\. Be the valedictorian. This should be easy._

_4\. Learn how to hack the school grading system. It's not like I care about other people's grades, but this is the one site the school created that I can't figure out how to hack. It severely annoys me. _

_5\. Sing in front of people. I'm so over singing in the shower and praying for Dad to not hear me._

_6\. Star in the school musical. I'm probably too shy for this to ever happen...but it doesn't hurt to dream, does it?_

_7\. Help the robotics club create a winning invention for the state fair. I'm sick of losing to Luna Academy every year._

_8\. Get my revenge on Levana and her gang. It can be something small. I just need to do something to her. I'm not going to let them beat me down any longer. Then again, I say this every year, and look where it's got me... Well, this is going to be the year I actually do something._

_9\. Learn a new programming language._

_10\. Beat Little Cress at chess. I have no idea how she beats me every time!_

_11\. Get in better shape. I seriously need to work out more. I couldn't even run a half-mile during gym last year. Little Cress can help motivate me._

_12\. Try a new hairstyle. I love having long hair, but sometimes it really gets in the way._

Cress smiled down at her work, written in flourishing blue ink by a hopelessly optimistic girl who thought every school year was going to be different from the last, only to be disappointed time and again. But this year, things were changing. She had already made a friend, and hopefully, more were on the way. It was time to start changing her life for the better.

Of course, maybe these were all just impossible dreams. But that was fine. Cress was nothing if not a dreamer.

**I'm sorry, I know that nothing much has happened in this story. But I wanted to explore Cress's character a little more. Please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

When the final bell rang at the end of the school day, Wolf took his time packing up his bag and leaving the classroom. He trudged through the hallways like his feet were made of lead, not wanting to go to football practice. He stopped at his locker, even though he didn't need anything from it. He dawdled by the water fountain, pretending to tie his shoelaces.

It wasn't that he didn't like football. In fact, he loved the sport, the feel of running down the field with the ball clutched tight in his arms, of letting go of the ball and watching it spiral perfectly through the air, his aim dead-on. But he didn't fit in with the rest of the team. They were all popular jocks like Carswell Thorne and Kai Lee, with their stunning looks and shining smiles that made girls faint. And then there was Wolf, always brooding darkly in the corner, not speaking to anyone. Constantly grumpy and easily annoyed, the whole team tiptoed around him like they were afraid of him. They _were _afraid of him. After all, Wolf was a hulking six foot six and the leader of the feared Wolf Pack. No one really knew what to do with him. The only reason he was still on the team was because Coach Jael insisted on it.

Wolf felt a hint of smugness at the fact that the coach wouldn't let him go. The team needed him. Even though Thorne was the captain, Wolf was the best player. He was the strongest, the fastest, and most agile. He didn't hesitate to tackle another player, throwing him onto the ground and pounding his face down. Wolf had heard others talking about him. "He's like a beast," people would say. "He's way too violent. They shouldn't let him on the team. He could injure someone badly!" But in his opinion, that was the whole point of football. To fight. To be aggressive.

"Ze'ev!" he heard a sharp voice call out. Groaning, Wolf stood up. "What are you doing here after school hours?" Sure enough, it was Ms. Lee, the vice-principal, coming toward him. A wave of resentment flashed through him when she called him by his real name.

"Sorry, Ms. Lee," he mumbled. "I...I was going football practice and I stopped to get a drink."

"Well, Ze'ev, football practice started fifteen minutes ago," she said, glaring at him. God, Wolf hated that woman. He hated that whole family, Kai and Ms. Lee and Principal Rikan. They thought they were better than everyone else. "You better have a good excuse, because Coach Jael is not going to be happy. On second thought, the principal has been wanting to speak to you recently. Why don't you come with me?"

Wolf stifled a groan. What could the freaking principal want with him now? He had been called into the office over ten times that year already, for bad behavior and bad grades and more. This was not going to be fun. "But I have to get to practice, Ms. Lee!" he cried desperately.

"Ze'ev, if you had wanted to go to football practice, you would have been there already," she told him. "Trust me, I know how your brain works. Now come with me, please."

* * *

"Your attendance record says that you've cut class over twenty times this quarter," Principal Rikan frowned, staring at his computer screen. Wolf was slumped miserably into a chair before his desk. Looking at the clock, he saw that ten more minutes had passed. He wouldn't be surprised if Coach Jael suspended him from the game this week for skipping too much practice.

"That explains why your grades are so terrible," he heard the principal mutter. Kai's father looked at him heavily. "Unfortunately, Wolf, you've missed so much class and forgotten so much homework that it's going to be nearly impossible to pass your classes this quarter."

"I don't care," grunted Wolf. He didn't care about his grades. He didn't give a damn about this blasted school.

"You should care, Ze'ev. You won't be able to go to college with a GPA like that. And let's not discuss your SAT scores."

"How do you know I'm planning to go to college?" Wolf snapped. Why would he waste four more years of his life in school, when he could be off enjoying freedom at last? "You know, that's what adults always say. Graduate from high school. Go to college. Get a job. Then you'll be happy. They say it like that should be everyone's life plan, like that's the only way to have a good life. Well, you know what makes me more miserable than anything? SCHOOL!" He glared, almost panting from his outburst. The words had been bottled up inside him for too long. It felt good to let them go.

Principal Rikan sighed again. He put on his caring-principal-trying-to-correct-a-messed-up-student face, and Wolf braced himself for a lecture. "Listen, Ze'ev. I didn't let you into this school for no reason, not even the football team. I let you into this school because I wanted to give you a chance. I know you had a rough childhood and a poor early education." Wolf snorted. That was an understatement. He and Ran had grown up so poor that they barely got anything to eat each day. They were practically living in the mud when Coach Jael had discovered his football talent and ordered him to come to Commonwealth High.

"I wanted to change things for you. I thought you had the potential to become a great student. You're a smart kid, no doubt about that. I wanted to help you fix up your life and be able to go to college someday. That's the reason I paid for plane tickets for you and your brother to travel here. That's the reason I convinced my friend to let you borrow his vacation home and why I pay for your living expenses. I gave you a chance, Ze'ev Kesley. And you're throwing it away."

Wolf balked at the accusation. This man had no right to get mad at him just because he didn't want the life everyone had planned out for him. He wasn't some poor little kid getting fixed up by charitable social workers. He had a right to make his own choices, to figure out himself what kind of life he wanted to live. "I didn't ask for any of this," he growled. "I didn't ask to come here or to be taken care of by you."

Principal Rikan, unbearably, didn't get mad. The lines in his face were more prominent than ever as he sighed and rubbed his temple. "If that's the choice you've made, Ze'ev... then I won't interfere anymore."

Wolf jumped up, about to turn his back and storm out of that room. But then an image flashed through his head. His mother. Maha Kesley. Staring at him as Coach Jael led him away with those sorrowful eyes. He hadn't seen her in years. But he remembered something she had said to him, long ago. _Do you want to know why I work in the factory from dawn till dusk, little Ze'ev? I do it so that I can give you a chance. I want you to have an education I want you to escape this poor little town and have the best life possible._

A lump grew in his throat. His mother had wanted him to do this. She had agreed to send him away to Commonwealth so that he could attend the better, more financially aided schools there instead of the poor little elementary he had gone to. She would be disappointed in him, throwing away this great chance to have a better life.

He turned back around. Principal Rikan smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Are there other options?" Wolf blurted out before he could stop himself. "Is there any other way to bring my grades up?"

The principal beamed. "I'm so glad you asked. Sit down again."

Wolf reluctantly sat down. He could see the glee in the principal's eyes and was already starting to regret this.

"As I said before, you are failing in all of your classes. That's an easy fix. Just don't cut class, do your homework, et cetera."

Wolf frowned. He didn't think it would be that easy. "What about getting into college?" He was still doubtful about spending another four years in prison, but he would do it if it would make his mom happy.

"Ah. Well. Assuming you follow my advice and raise your grades, your GPA should be high enough to have a shot at getting into college. But...most colleges won't take students with SAT scores that low. However, your chances significantly increase if you take a sport and do some kind of extracurricular activity. Obviously, you already play a sport."

_Oh no. _He saw where the principal was going with this.

"Now, all you need is another activity!" Principal Rikan grinned. "Unfortunately, your pickings are slim. Most extracurriculars require you to sign up at the beginning of the year, and we're almost in the second quarter already."

Wolf had a feeling that the principal had planned this whole conversation out beforehand.

He ticked things off on his fingers. "Orchestra, art, jazz band, photography, sewing, cooking, and singing aren't options anymore. That leaves you with...musical theater!"

Dread filled Wolf. "No, sir, anything but that, please." He could hardly imagine that. Getting up in front of an audience and singing? Dancing? Acting? Definitely not.

"If you don't want to do it, Ze'ev, then it's time to make a choice. You have three options: one, raise your GPA and start theater so that you have a chance of going to college and making your family proud. Two, fail all your classes... and be forced to retake your senior year. You know we can refuse to let you graduate. Three, run away and become a delinquent drug dealer or something like that."

Wolf groaned. The principal eyed him. He had backed him into a corner and he knew it. He was just waiting to see Wolf crumble. Deep down, he knew what to do. There were no other options.


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you to everyone who's been reading this story! Shoutout to xXPokePotterIslandXx, who's been following this story since the beginning!**

Kai idly strode down the main boulevard of Commonwealth City, trying to listen to his girlfriend's endless chatter. She clung to him like a prickly burr that gets stuck on your shoe, never letting go. Her sharp bloodred nails dug into his arm. Squeals flew at them from every direction every now and then, some people ecstatic at seeing the media-famous couple in public. Kai smiled and waved at the ogling fans, but Levana barely glanced at them, trying to act cool and collected. Someone to admire and fangirl over, but never someone to befriend. Levana didn't want friends. She wanted fame and glory.

The two walked past little cafes and antique furniture stores, jewelry shops and some small boutiques, causing Levana to roll her eyes and say, "Ugh, the clothing there is so last year." Obviously, Kai had no idea what was "last year" and what was "this year." He just smiled and nodded, as usual. Like a robot that couldn't do anything but take orders and smile.

If he had learned anything in the past two years of dating Levana Blackburn, it was that you should never cross her.

Bad things would come of that. Very, very bad things.

Levana had gotten a huge spike in media popularity a few years back, right when she moved to Commonwealth City from the booming city of Artemisia. It was all because of the murder of her soon-to-be husband, Evret Hayle. Levana was only sixteen, several years younger than Evret, but apparently they loved each other enough to want to get married so soon. Kai, a believer in true love, had seen nothing wrong with this. But when he was murdered, suspicious stories had started coming out. Close friends and family claimed that Levana had manipulated Evret into loving her and threatened him when he refused her proposal. Even her modeling agent had spoken up, saying that Levana had coerced him into signing with her. Kai had been shocked and horrified to hear of these stories. It didn't seem right. How was it possible for a person to have that much power over others?

When Kai crossed paths with her at high school, he had been wary. He saw the way she flirted shamelessly with every boy in sight, treated everyone around her like servants, and sweet-talked the teachers into giving her good grades. But then one day she had sat right next to him in class, looked him right in the eyes, and... that face. It was like the world had stopped. Kai could hardly breathe as he looked deep into the warm depths of her black eyes, admired her luminous white skin, gazed at her perfect lips.

He could feel the course of his thoughts change completely the second she made eye contact with him. Everything twisted from doubt, suspicion, disgust, to warm pleasure and joy. This was not the type of girl who would manipulate people or threaten them. This girl was welcoming, kind, caring... she was everything.

Later that day heads turned in the cafeteria as Levana strutted through the tables, hips swishing from side to side. She surveyed the scene, dark eyes flitting from face to face. And then, to Kai's disbelief, she turned and lowered herself next to Kai in one smooth motion. Next to him, Thorne's jaw went slack and he dropped his spoon into his soup. The girl who had been trying to talk to Kai got up and left the table with a huff. He barely noticed her, once again enraptured by Levana's beauty.

He had called a taxi to take them home, not wanting her to see his battered old Nainsi car. His eyes barely left her face once from the time they exited the school to the time they hopped out at his mansion - or rather, he hopped out, she floated out. She seemed barely fazed by all the wealth inside Kai's house, from the servants who handed them glasses of sparkling water to the plush velvet couches, so he assumed that she also came from a rich area. They sat on one of the couches, suddenly finding it hard to look at each other. Kai felt the tiniest bit awkward, next to this beautiful, unearthly girl. She certainly looked like no other girl in Commonwealth. It was almost like she had come from a different planet.

They sat in silence for a few moments, Kai's foot anxiously tapping the floor, beads of sweat rolling down his face. When Levana seemed to have gotten bored of drawing out the tension, she finally leaned over and pressed her body into his.

Hours later, when Kai heard the noise of his father's private helicopter landing outside, he immediately sprang off Levana and tried to tidy himself up. His father entered, eyes weary, so fatigued after a long day of work that he barely looked at Kai. Torin, his father's assistant, saw them. He raised an eyebrow at their rumpled clothes and hair but said nothing.

Once Levana had left, Torin came over and sat on the couch with Kai. He felt the fleeting urge to bolt upstairs and lock himself in his bedroom, but stayed put, wanting to show respect. Torin didn't say anything for a very long time, but Kai could feel the unspoken words and feelings emanating from him. _We didn't raise you to act like this. _

Finally, Torin sighed and stood up. "Be careful, Kai," was all he said before leaving the room, leaving the boy more confused and lost than ever.

* * *

So that was how he had gotten his girlfriend. One of the best and worst things that had ever happened to him.

Best because Kai had been waiting for a long time for a girl like this. He had had girlfriends before, but they had been brief relationships, full of nothing more than mild affection. When he had broken up with each and every one of them, it had been a quick goodbye. No hard feelings, no huge fights. They had simply moved on with their lives. But with Levana... Kai had never before felt this deep, passionate longing for a person. He felt like he needed her. He felt like breaking up with her would be the worst ordeal in the world, something that would tear him up and scar him for life.

Worst because now he had responsibilities. He was expected to be a good boyfriend, to sit with her at lunch and hold hands in the hallways and buy gifts for her. But how were you supposed to buy a gift for someone when the only things you knew about them were that they were extremely beautiful and a good kisser?

Yes, sometimes Levana could get mad at him. Sometimes she could ignore him at school or shoot hateful glares at him every time he looked at her or tell manipulative lies to friends behind his back. And sometimes she could convince him to buy her a thousand-dollar ring for her birthday, something that he wouldn't have done for any other girlfriend. But she was beautiful. And he loved her... didn't he?

He knew he loved her, because every time he looked at her and talked to her it was like a hundred lightning bolts zinged through his body. He felt electrified whenever she looked at him. He hadn't felt that way with any other girl. That was definitely a sign of love, he decided.

He was able to use this argument with himself for months. Months of being lied to and persuaded to do things he didn't want to, months of being "accidentally" cheated on, months of serving Levana's every whim and need and desire. He forgave her for every mistake and did everything a good boyfriend should do because of their love. It was true love.

He was completely sure of everything in his life. He had a loving family, popularity, hilarious friends, a loving girlfriend, and a wallet stuffed with money. Kai was living the American dream. Everything was amazing.

Until he met Cinder.

Until he met someone who didn't laugh at him for his sentiments over his Nainsi. Someone who listened with their full attention when he was talking, like he was about to say the most interesting thing in the world. Someone who saw past all the masks he put on to be deemed social media-worthy to the real him. He wanted to see her again, talk to her again. And at the same time, he wanted to run away.

Kai had an eerie feeling that Cinder was going to change his life.

* * *

Cinder looked up as the door to the mechanic shop opened with its familiar creaks and clanks. "New Beijing Mechanics, how may we help you-" she started to say in a bored voice, but then looked more closely at the boy entering the shop. She gasped as he pulled his hood down, then regretted it as his warm look hit her piercingly.

"You again," she tried to say nonchalantly, acting like cute, popular boys strolled into the shop all the time. "Don't tell me that your car is still acting up."

"Honestly, I wish it was," Kai smiled, brushing his bangs out of his eyes. "That would give me an excuse to come here again."

Cinder's heart quickened. Did he just say that he liked being around her? She tried to act annoyed. "You do realize it's the middle of shop hours, and I'm very busy right now," she said in an aloof way, trying to act immune to his flirting. With a closer look at him, she noticed that he was wearing a thick black sweatshirt. It was nearly ninety degrees outside, how was he not overheating in that thing? Then she remembered that he had had the hood pulled low over his head when he had entered. Was he trying to disguise himself, not wanting to be seen with her?

Kai snorted. "Oh, yeah. You look very busy right now." Cinder looked down embarrassedly. She was doing her science homework on her worktable, since no customers had come by in a while.

"As a matter of fact, we're expecting a big parts order soon and I have to be here to receive it," she announced, proud of her believable lie.

"Come on. You have to talk to me. I ditched my girlfriend to come in here." At the mention of his girlfriend, Levana, her stomach twisted.

"I'm not worth that, Kai. Go back to her." If there was anything Cinder didn't want to do, it was getting caught between Kai and his girlfriend.

"Actually, I think you are," he said with a smirk. Then Cinder looked him right in the eye for the first time since he had entered, and all joking dropped off his face. They held each other's gaze, each waiting to see who would be the first to back down.

Finally, Kai dropped his eyes. "I really mean it," he whispered. "Cinder..." But whatever he was about to say was interrupted by a chiming from his phone. Kai looked down. "Dang it. Levana's wondering where I am."

He straightened up, dusting off the filth that had accumulated on his sweatshirt from the dirty shop and frowning at a grease stain near his collar. Cinder's heart sank, even though she had originally wanted him to leave. If he really thought she was worth it, he would be staying, rather than bending to his girlfriend.

Not that she wanted him to stay. In fact, the best thing for both of them would be to stay far away from each other. She averted her eyes and bent back over her homework.

But instead of heading out, Kai swung himself easily around the side of Cinder's table and crouched back there. "Are you doing the homework from Mr. Darnel's class? It looks really hard."

She looked hard at him, but he was looking away, scrambling around behind her. "I don't suppose you have an extra chair? Well, whatever - this will do." And with that he plopped down on top of her enormous standing toolbox. Cinder stared.

Kai opened his mouth to say something, but the words that came out were different from the ones that had first formed. "Are you going to try out for the musical?"

She continued staring at him, mouth open like a fish. She was also pretty sure she had a grease stain on her forehead. Finally, she found her voice. "That's seriously what you want to talk about?" It was literally the most random thing in the world.

He shrugged. "What better topic is there? The musical is one of Commonwealth High's biggest events."

"Why would I take part in something as silly as a musical?" As soon as she said this, she knew he was hurt.

Kai thought for a moment. "It's just that... every year, when I'm in the musical... not just that, actually, every movie and TV show I've ever been in, I feel like I'm part of something. The cast, the crew... we're all working together to create something beautiful for people to enjoy. And when you finally step out on stage and the audience admires the singing and dancing and scenery and costumes, it's just an amazing feeling, to know that you helped make something that has an impact on the world."

"I've never thought of it like that," Cinder said softly, daring to look him in the eyes. The softness and vulnerability in his face when he talked about his acting made her realize how much passion he had for it. She felt herself inclining her head slightly closer. Realizing how strange this moment had gotten, Cinder pulled back and closed up the softer side of her heart. "Of course, though, I would never be able to be in a musical. I'm terrible at singing."

"Your skill level doesn't matter," Kai said. "Everyone gets in and everyone has fun."

She was still doubtful. Kai must have seen it in her eyes because he leaned forward suddenly and grabbed her hands. "Just give it a try, all right? Please?" There was something in the earnestness of his voice that made her want to appease him. She relented.

"Fine. Maybe."


	12. Chapter 12

Another boring day at school. Another day of sitting through classes with teachers talking unenthusiastically about stuff that Cress already knew. She had known that she had a gift for technology and math and science when she was really little, from the time when her father started teaching her coding and algebra problems and chemistry. The only reason Cress was taking these classes now, in her final year of high school, was that the school had no more advanced courses left to give her. She had completed the highest levels in every subject as a freshman, before returning to the regular track for easy A's. Most of the time in class she now spent daydreaming about Carswell Thorne.

At least there was something to look forward to. Cress couldn't wait to see Cinder again at the Robotics Club meeting. Having an actual friend at school was a completely new feeling. After being overlooked and ignored for years, she was happy to have someone finally see her and be interested in her.

It went beyond that. Yesterday, Little Cress had started elementary school after years of being homeschooled. Since her sister hadn't known anything about the social part of a school, it had been easy to hide how much of an outcast Cress was at Commonwealth. But now that Little Cress could see firsthand how many kids had easy normal friendships, she would start to see her beloved big sister for who she really was.

A nerd.

An outcast.

Cress needed to prove to herself and her sister that she could make friends.

Feeling restless and bored, Cress raised her hand and asked to go to the bathroom. Most of the time, teachers ignored her in class and let her do whatever she wanted. After all, they had seen her grades.

She moved out of the classroom as quickly as possible, taking a second to note that she was the same height standing up as most of the students sitting down. Cress was an unfortunate four feet ten inches, at seventeen years old. Most people tended to think she was in fourth grade or something. Then again, her dad was nearly the same height as her, and he was sixty-five years old.

Humming a bit of Italian opera she had been listening to this morning, Cress walked cheerfully down the hallways. As usual, any other students roaming about ignored her. She wasn't a bully target or the butt of any jokes. Most of the time she was just invisible.

She reached the bathroom at the same time that she reached the climax of the opera song, the part when the notes and melodies and rhythms escalated into a beautiful cacophony of sound. That was what she loved about opera: it was chaotic, with all the different parts going on at once, but altogether majestic. Cress had always loved music, unlike the rest of her family, who sounded like dying goats when they sang.

Cress didn't really have to use the bathroom, so she ended up just washing her hands, barely paying attention because of how caught up in the music she was. She didn't even realize what she was doing at first. As the music escalated, her humming turned into a mumbling of the Italian words, the sounds thick and foreign on her tongue. The mumbling turned into a soft trill of music, and then suddenly she was going full-out, the song tumbling out of her mouth and soaring through the air. She closed her eyes, wanting to be fully immersed in the music. It didn't matter that she didn't understand any of the words. This was music at its purest.

As she reached the end of the song, Cress beamed, hands still scrubbing under the gentle flow of warm water even though they were surely clean by now. Her father had always told her that she had a gift for singing, just like her mother. It felt good to finally let it loose.

Still smiling, she opened her eyes and returned to reality.

Carswell Thorne was leaning against the bathroom doorway.

She let out a little scream of shock and fell back against the sink, crossing her arms over herself. A cascade of water splashed onto the floor when she accidentally stuck her hand under the sink faucet.

Thorne crossed over and turned off the sink before offering her a hand to get up. His hand wrapped around her skinny arm a little too roughly and she flinched. "Whoops, sorry," he said with a wink. "I forget my own strength sometimes. His gaze darted up to her face. "Whoa, look at that hair!"

"I...uh." Why, oh why, did she have to clam up now? Her crush was talking to her. This moment was supposed to be perfect. It felt like her face was on fire.

"Jeez, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend. It's just... really long." He gave another half-teasing, half-sheepish grin. "Sorry if I surprised you. But I was passing in the hall and I heard the most beautiful voice coming from here..." His grin widened. "Where did you learn to sing like that?"

Cress shrank back into herself, arms gripping her elbows. She couldn't find the words to answer his question. "You shouldn't... you shouldn't be in here."

He held up his hands. "Fine, I'm sorry. But seriously. That was beautiful... sorry, what's your name?"

All her precarious fantasies of their first meeting, where he had somehow known her name because she was the state STEM fair winner and the Mathletes team captain and member of the acclaimed robotics club and winner of the Coding Innovation contest, crashed down in her head. She told herself to stop being silly. Of course he didn't know her name. Nerds and popular kids didn't mix.

"I-I'm Cress," she stammered, blushing under the gaze of his innocent, caring eyes. He really did want to know more about her. She bowed her head "Cress Darnel."

"And I know your name," she burst out as he opened his mouth to tell her. Instantly flushing, Cress broke eye contact again.

"Don't be embarrassed. You have a beautiful voice. Really. What language was it?" He leaned forward, hands out to emphasize his words.

"Italian. I don't know what all the words mean."

"Huh." Thorne turned toward the sink, nodding in curiosity. "Well...I liked it."

Her mortification at being caught singing in a high school bathroom began to fade.

"Why have I never heard you sing before?" was his next question. "I take part in the school musical every year, and I've never seen you."

"I don't really sing in public. At all," she mumbled, fiddling with her hair. She fought the urge to bite the wavy tips. She didn't want to be seen as a gross weirdo in front of this embodiment of perfection.

"Well, you should," Thorne said decisively, leaning closer to her. Now Cress was fighting to maintain eye contact as his body moved closer and closer. "You have exactly the kind of voice that's good for stage productions. Strong and clear, with a good range. Who taught you how to sing?"

"Um...my mother did, but she left when I was younger. I've never taken professional voice lessons or anything."

"Wow." He nodded in appreciation. "Well, just think about it. If you decide to come to try out... I'll be looking for you."

"Really?"

"Definitely. You have a lot of talent, Cass."

She stared after him as he left the bathroom.

So he had learned her name and forgotten it in the span of five minutes.

Now that she had actually met him, she wasn't as smitten as before.

_Cocky. _That was the word that first came to mind when Cress pictured his self-assured, confident ways. Apparently, he was a womanizer who couldn't even bother to learn their names.

She sighed. Forget about that. Thorne had put a new idea into her mind.

The next item on her bucket list.

_I'll be looking for you._

**Author's Note: Definitely not my best work, but I wanted to update since I haven't written anything in a while. I was writing this as a cute little Cresswell scene, but somehow it took a turn at the end I wasn't expecting. Hope you liked it!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Thank you for all the positive reviews! And to answer a few people's questions, I am trying to get on a regular update schedule, but it's been difficult. But my school might close soon, so I'll probably have more time to write.**

Scarlet sighed as she pulled on the itchy waitress outfit of the Rieux Cafe, getting ready for her shift. This was admittedly not the best job she had ever worked, but she kept with it because she needed pocket money. Scarlet would much rather be zipping around town on her prized motorcycle, delivering their crops to businesses, but her grandmother refused to pay her for doing "errands." So she had applied for the waitress job, already expecting to hate it. But it paid well, and Scarlet wanted to prove to Grand-mere that she could make money by herself apart from the farm.

The main problem with the job? Having to interact with all the customers. When she waited on families with cute kids or elderly couples, it was no problem. But after school and in the evening, the cafe was swamped with fellow high schoolers - mostly the rich popular kids who had plentiful allowances they could spend on coffees and juices and sandwiches. Scarlet was not the kind of ditzy waitress who could flirt with all the boys and gossip and giggle with all the girls, like her friend Emilie. Instead, she waited on the tables stone-faced and silent, only talking when she was taking their orders. The cafe manager trained all of the waiters and waitresses to always have a smile and be polite, but Scarlet didn't care about manners when faced with the obnoxious football players and boy-crazy cheerleaders.

Halfway through her shift, Scarlet was taking a break from all the chaos of the busy cafe. She slowly refilled some customer's water glass before reluctantly retreating from the quiet of the back hallway.

"Scarling!" a voice cried. She looked up, startled, as her friend Emilie practically tripped over her own feet trying to reach her. Her fluffy blond curls cascaded around her face, shiny and bouncy. Scarlet had always slightly envied her friend. She was the kind of girl everyone wanted to be like, slim and blond and delicate. Whereas Scarlet had wild red hair not even the best hairdresser could tame and a thicker, stockier body. "Oh, darling, have you seen that new customer that just walked in?"

Scarlet looked over to where Emilie was pointing. It felt like someone had punched her in the gut when she saw the person sitting at the table by the window. _Wolf. _That face she had seen so many times in the dark alleys of the city, doing drugs and beating kids up and abducting Cinder. What on Earth was he doing here now?

"Doesn't he have the most beautiful green eyes?" Emilie crooned, apparently not knowing of Wolf's shady lifestyle. Scarlet looked up, taken aback that someone could call him beautiful.

She sighed, a headache pounding at her temples. Too often she was forced to steer her love-stricken friend away from someone who would not be good for her. "Em, you know he's a street fighter, right?"

"Don't be like that." Apparently the fact that he was a street fighter didn't seem to register with her. She waved away Scarlet's concerns. "He's sweet! And he was here yesterday and he sat in my section again today, which definitely means something, don't you think?" When Scarlet rolled her eyes, Emilie pressed on with adoration in her eyes. "He's always really quiet, not like Roland and his crowd. I think he's shy... and lonely." She offered a piece of gum to her friend.

"A street fighter who seems shy?" Scarlet waved the gum away. "Are you listening to yourself?"

"You have to see him to understand. He has the eyes that just..." She sighed, fanning her fingers over her eyes as though she simply couldn't take Wolf's hotness.

"Emilie!" Their boss, Gilles, appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. "Stop chatting and get in here. Table four wants you." He glared at Scarlet, as though she was the one who had initiated the conversation.

Scarlet and Emilie entered the kitchen to grab plates of food that were ready for customers. "Is table four _him_?" Scarlet asked.

"No, he's at nine," Emilie sighed, scooping up the plates and twirling out to the dining room. "See you later, darling!"

Scarlet idled in the kitchen for a minute, watching Gilles shove a stack of fries next to a ham sandwich. "Table nine," he mumbled, shoving the plate across the steel counter toward her and already turning toward the next job he had to do.

She flinched. Why she was uncomfortable with serving Wolf, she didn't know.

She would have recognized him easily even without Emilie pointing him out to her, due to all the scars and bruises on his sharp-jawed, olive-skinned face. His disheveled hair stuck out in every direction, somewhat similar to her own hair when she woke up on a Saturday morning. When he looked up at her, Scarlet startled in surprise. She realized that all the times she had screamed at him on the streets or rescued some poor kid from his gang, she had never really looked him in the eye.

Em had been right. There was something peculiar about those eyes. They were unnaturally green, like sour grapes still on the vine. More than that, there was a certain sparkle to them, as if he were amused. Something in her stomach tightened. _He has these eyes..._

Shaking her head to clear it, she deposited the sandwich on the table. Scarlet was surprised to see that there were already three empty plates scattered across the table, every bit of food gobbled up except for a few pieces of wilted lettuce and the juicy red tomato slices that were served on every plate. Who had that kind of appetite?

She fidgeted a little, half expecting Wolf to lunge out of the booth and attack her. This quiet, shy boy was so different from the one she so often saw beating people up, for money or for fun. "Are you sure you don't want us to just bring you the whole pig?" she said, stacking the three empty plates to take back to the kitchen. "It would save the servers the trouble of running back and forth from the kitchen."

It had been a joke, but she saw his eyes widen and thought he was about to ask if that was an option. Wolf held her gaze for a moment, then looked back down at the sandwich. "This food is good."

Scarlet shrugged. She didn't know why she was still talking to him. After all, she hated him. Hadn't she screamed at him and held him at gunpoint a few days ago when he had attacked Cinder? "Fighting must work up quite an appetite," she said sharply.

He didn't respond. Scarlet noticed that his fingers were fidgeting with his straw and his fork, and both of his legs were jogging under the table. She could relate to having boundless energy. Grand-mere said that Scarlet had been running around the farm with all the animals since she was little.

"Well. Um. Enjoy your food," she said, turning to go. At the last second, she stopped and turned back. "Are you sure you don't want the tomatoes? They're the best part, and they were grown in my own garden. The lettuce too, actually, but it wasn't wilted like this when I harvested it. Never mind, you don't want the lettuce. But the tomatoes?" She cringed at her nervous blabbering.

The fighter looked surprised. "I've never tried them."

Scarlet was shocked. She knew that not everyone liked vegetables, but as someone who had grown up eating fresh farm-grown foods, not ever trying tomatoes was unthinkable. They were her and her grand-mere's favorite vegetable. "Your mom never made you eat your vegetables, did she."

He hesitated, before picking up the slices of tomato and shoveling them into his mouth. Scarlet watched with a little bit of satisfaction. They were the best farm near Commonwealth City, and she loved seeing the vegetables go from the dirt patch outside her bedroom to someone's mouth in the city.

He froze mid-chew. In a slow, pondering way, he gave the verdict. "Not what I expected. But not horrible. I'll order some more of those, if I could?"

Scarlet thought for a moment. "Well, you can't order just tomatoes. But go pay your bill, and I'll grab some from the kitchen and slip them to you."

Staring at her, Wolf swallowed. "Thank you," he said gruffly. She felt a strange sort of kinship with him for a moment. They were both outsiders in this cafe full of popular jocks and silly girls. Ever since grade school, she had been the weird girl with a crazy grandma who lived on a farm and always got into fights with boys. And he was the Alpha Leader of the feared Wolf Pack.

Why they were here, together, having a conversation, she couldn't fathom.

Turning away, Scarlet slipped back into the kitchen. But as soon as she stepped foot in there, Gilles started barking orders at her. She had to bring plates to three different tables before the stream of commands stopped. And as soon as there were no more tables to wait, the dishwasher had to go to the bathroom and she asked Scarlet to take her spot. It was nearly twenty minutes before she had a spare minute to sneak into the back storeroom and grab a few tomatoes. She felt bad for making Wolf wait, then wondered why she felt bad. It wasn't like they were friends. She was just doing him a favor.

Emilie caught her before she exited through the side door. Scarlet tried to hide the tomatoes behind her back, but her friend saw them. Her brow furrowed in confusion. "Scarling, what are you doing?"

She sighed. There was no use in lying. "Your handsome street fighter asked me to bring him some tomatoes."

Emilie gaped. "Wha - what? He asked you and not me?"

Scarlet rolled her eyes and held out the tomatoes. "Fine, you take them to him."

But a quirky smile was growing on her friend's face. Em backed away. "No, you can. Have fun with him."

Raising an eyebrow, Scarlet turned her back. Right before she let the door swing shut between them, she turned around and saw her friend smirking at her.

"Oh, shut up," she growled. "That's never going to happen. I hate Wolf, remember?" She closed the door with a huff.

But hours later, lying in her bed at the farmhouse, Scarlet couldn't quite shake the memory of Wolf's vivid green eyes.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: I actually didn't realize how many High School AUs there were for Lunar Chronicles Fanfiction. If you wrote one of those, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to copy anyone and I'm going to try to make this story as original as possible**

_Long, sleek wings. Supersonic turbofans. Aerodynamic stabilizers. Drag-reducing landing gear. _Someday Thorne would fly a true beauty, a plane with the best, most expensive technology. He would be able to custom-design his plane - that's how important of a pilot he would be. He would paint the words RAMPION across the side, reminiscent of his first car.

Of course, he would have to work on the not-getting-kicked-out-of-flight-school part. But he was sure he would be able to do that. The teachers who had expelled him, saying he had a terrible work ethic and never focused didn't understand him. Thorne had refused to do the conditioning and strength training at the flight academy, insisting that you didn't need to be in good shape to press a pedal and hold the controls. All the coaches had screamed at him that he was never going to be a good pilot if he didn't want to work hard. But he was planning to work hard. Just not at push-ups and crunches.

Thorne's mind wandered through a dreamscape of him, older and even more handsome than he was now, flying his private plane through the vast, expansive sky. He burst through the clouds darkening the rest of the world and soared up, up, up to a whole other world. Sunshine gleamed off the shiny exterior of the plane and Thorne leaned back lazily in his pilot's chair, enjoying the view of this private landscape available only to pilots.

"Carswell Thorne, would you mind telling us what the effects of the Spanish Inquisition were during the Crusades?"

He startled out of his daydreaming, nearly knocking his chair over as he straightened up. The history teacher - he couldn't remember her name - was glaring down at him. "I, uh - what was the question?" Thorne tried to put on his signature, dazzling suave smile, but she wasn't charmed.

"Carswell, if you keep up this kind of behavior, I will - " The bell signaling the end of the day rang, and it was like a bomb had been dropped. All the students who had previously been slouching at their desks half-asleep now exploded out of their seats, grabbed their bags, and charged for the door.

Scooping up his backpack over one shoulder, Thorne shot another dashing grin at his teacher. "Sorry, professor, got to run! Have fun grading papers!" He darted out the door before she could give him detention.

This was the day he had been anticipating for ages. Play tryouts. Thorne had been starring in plays since he was a tiny kid, and doing them in high schools was even better. What was not to like? Musical theater let him show off his singing and acting talent, style his hair and wear fancy costumes, hang around with cute girls, and it gave him inspiring stories to write about in his college application essays.

Everyone loved him. The director, the choreographer, fellow costars. After all, Thorne just had a certain charisma and flair that no one else had. He was a star.

* * *

Scarlet glanced over her shoulder at all the popular kids flooding the hallways, a swarm of them congregating toward the main auditorium. It was freaking play tryouts today - a topic that interested Scarlet about as much as the topic of the best ways to kiss - and unfortunately it was all people had been talking about for weeks.

"Hey! Scarlet!" a voice called. She turned, expecting Cinder or Cress, who had been hanging out with her for a few days ever since Cinder started at Commonwealth. Instead of either of them, she saw a hulking figure cutting a path through the crowds, who parted around him like a stone in the river. Everyone seemed frightened of Wolf. But after their exchange the other night, Scarlet wasn't intimidated one bit. She crossed her arms over her chest as they fell in step together. "What do you want?"

"I..." He seemed a little bit embarrassed for a second, ducking his head before turning to look her in the eye. She was taken aback again by the vividness of his sharp green eyes. "I heard from that blond girl at the cafe-"

"Emilie?"

"Yes, her - I heard that you work on a farm."

"_Live _on a farm," she corrected pointedly. Her grandmother and the farm were more home to her than her actual parents had ever been.

"Anyway," he pushed on. The two of them were receiving several stares from people as they walked by. Apparently Wolf wasn't known to socialize, especially with girls. "I was wondering if you needed a farmhand."

She blinked. "_You _want to work on the farm?" Scarlet didn't try to disguise her doubt. This was the boy who she had seen beating up kids in dark alleyways, even one of her friends. She had seen him sneak into bars and clubs and stumble out drunk. She had seen him steal cars and break into homes and run around causing mayhem with his Wolf Pack. And now he wanted to work on her beloved farm? For some reason, she imagined him eating all the chickens and goats and sheep like a real wolf would do.

"For real," he promised. "I - the principal told me I need to get my life in shape. And that might mean getting a job. And you're the first halfway decent person I've met in this blasted town, so... um. Yeah."

Looking at the floor to avoid meeting his eyes, Scarlet said, "I really appreciate your offer, but I think we have enough farmhands for now."

His earnest eyes fell. He seemed to get what she wasn't saying. _You're not really the type of person I would like to hire, or even associate with. _"I understand. Thank you for the tomatoes last night." They entered a room, and he kicked at the floor a little. Scarlet felt bad. She knew that she was probably his only hope for a paying job.

"All right everyone, line up over here!" a sharp voice barked. Scarlet was startled. She looked around at where they were, realizing that she hadn't been paying attention to where they were walking during their conversation. She was horrified to find herself in the auditorium, among all the kids... trying out for the play.

The lady who had first called to them marched over to the glass-windowed doors and slammed them shut. She rapped sharply on the windows at all the kids standing outside hoping to get a glimpse of the tryouts. "No watching!" she screamed, locking the doors.

Scarlet grabbed Wolf's hand instinctively. "What are we doing here?" she hissed. "We have to go."

He looked at her strangely. "I'm trying out for the play. I thought you were too."

Scarlet gave him a scathing look. She was so annoyed by now that she didn't even dwell on the fact that he was trying out for the play. "You seriously thought I was trying out for the play."

Wolf shrugged infuriatingly. "Maybe you should pay better attention to where you go."

Grinding her teeth, she let go of Wolf and hurried over to the woman finishing locking the doors. "Excuse me, miss, I'm not supposed to be here - "

The woman glared at her. "I don't have time for your petty problems. I have play tryouts to run. Now get back in line." She strode away, deaf to Scarlet's protests.

She walked down the length of the line, taking everyone's names. When she reached Scarlet, the girl tried one more time. "I really don't want to -"

"Stop protesting!" she snapped. "You're here, and that means you're trying out." Scarlet realized that they had made quite a scene. The popular kids were staring at them, some asking who Scarlet was, some giggling behind hands, some storing the gossip in their brains to share later. "Now, name, girl."

Scarlet sighed. "Scarlet Benoit, B-e-n-o-i-t." She looked around, mind and heart racing as she tried to figure some way out of this, not paying attention to the kids who were saying their names until she heard a peep from the back. "Crescent Moon Darnel," and, in a stronger, louder voice, "Cinder Linh - well, actually Selene Linh, do you want my real name or my nickname?"

Scarlet breathed a sigh of relief. As soon as the lady turned her back on them, leading the kids to the stairs up to the stage, she hurried over to her friends. "Thank god you guys are here. I was worried it would be just me, Wolf, and a bunch of popular kids."

"Wolf?" Cinder asked at the same time that Cress said, "I didn't know you were going to try out."

She rolled her eyes. "I wasn't until I got in here and then she locked the doors."

Cinder was still giving her a funny look. "Isn't Wolf that guy who dented my prosthetics?"

"You mean, he _beat you up _which caused you prosthetics to get dented," Scarlet corrected. "But he's actually not that bad. Last night - "

Her words were interrupted by another shout. "No talking!"

"Well, it looks like she already hates me," Scarlet muttered to Cress and Cinder. They giggled a little, but Scarlet was worried. _What have I gotten myself into? _she wondered.

* * *

_What have I gotten myself into? _Cinder was thinking as they made their way over to the stage. She had decided to do the play after considering what Kai had said. She wanted to make some more friends and maybe put herself in the spotlight a little, force herself to go out of her comfort zone. But a scan of the other kids trying out showed that it was mostly Kai and Thorne's group, the popular kids, plus Wolf, lurking awkwardly on the side, as well as a boy and a girl in their grade that she didn't know and some younger kids, including Peony and her friends. She spotted Pearl and some other girls hanging in the back too, inwardly grimacing that she would have to spend several weeks doing something with her least favorite stepsister.

Cinder saw someone standing next to Kai and his girlfriend Levana that she had never seen before. The girl looked similar enough to Levana that she guessed they were sisters, but she had tan skin and dark brown hair in contrast to Levana's pale skin and red hair. In fact, as Cinder looked closer, she thought that the girl looked a lot like herself.

"That's Channary Blackburn," Cress whispered to Cinder as if she had read her mind. "She's a few years older than everyone, but she always comes and does the play even though she's not a student anymore. Ms. Hope loves her." Cinder guessed that Ms. Hope was the director of the play who had already started screaming at everyone.

The group of kids stopped once they were on the stage. Peony caught Cinder's eye and smiled reassuringly. Cinder envied her little sister's confidence and how easily she had been accepted among the social hierarchy of Commonwealth High - she had already made tons of friends and joined the cheer team.

"All right, everyone listen up," the director yelled. "I'm sure you are all anxious to hear what play we are doing this year." Cress had told Cinder that the name of the play was kept secret until tryouts. Everyone around Cinder seemed tense, nervous about the tryouts.

"This year we are trying something new," Ms. Hope announced. "I have written my own musical theater piece, inspired by several fairy tales. It is called... Fairy Tale Mayhem!" If she was expecting some big round of applause after this statement, she was disappointed, because everyone just looked at their friends, confused. She smiled awkwardly and pressed on. "As usual, you will be able to look at several scripts and decide which one you want to sing for your tryout. You have five minutes to grab a script and start practicing, starting... now!"

Everyone except Cinder, Cress, and Scarlet rushed to the table holding the scripts, wanting to have the first pick. The girls hung back until everyone had grabbed what they wanted. Singing voices started floating through the room, some high and melodic, some deep and gravelly. Cinder looked at all the neatly labeled stacks of papers. "Cinderella, Prince Charming, Little Red Riding Hood, The Big Bad Wolf, Rapunzel, another prince, Snow White, and the _other_ prince guy. Jeez, how many princes are there?"

Scarlet rolled her eyes. "Looks like we'll be acting as the weak little princesses who need a prince to save them." She snatched up a random paper without even looking at it. "I don't really care who I play. Actually, if I have a really bad audition, she'll kick me out, right?"

Cinder laughed. "Maybe, Scar. Have fun with that." Glancing at Cress, she asked, "Which one are you going to do?"

Cress picked up the Rapunzel script. She pointed to the lyrics, something about a beautiful crescent moon. "This song looks similar to a lullaby my mom would sing me when I was a baby."

After another moment of consideration, Cinder chose the Cinderella script. "Her name is like mine, it's meant to be!" she joked. The girls retreated into a quiet corner to practice singing the lines of the songs on their scripts and reading the other parts. All of them except Scarlet, that is. She was slumped against the wall, clearly annoyed at having to be here.

Cinder felt her hands starting to shake. She tried to take deep breaths, but nothing helped. She had never done anything like this before. Wishing once again for Peony's confidence, she stood up and started to pace around.

"Your five minutes are up!" called the director. She was now sitting in the front row of the auditorium seats, clipboard and papers on her lap. "While waiting for your turn, please stand in the wings. Now, the person going first is..." she took a moment to scan all the kids standing before her. Cinder saw Thorne clear his throat and start to stride forward, but before he could volunteer, Ms. Hope's gaze swept over Cinder and she called, "You!"

**Pay attention to details... there may or may not be some foreshadowing in this chapter!**

**Hope you liked it! Please favorite, follow, and review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**When school is canceled and it's been raining all day... there's nothing to do but write another chapter! I was totally procrastinating on updates because I wasn't really sure how to write this chapter but then yesterday I had a flash of inspiration to try something new. Hope you like it!**

CINDER

_Why, oh why, did she have to choose me? I literally have the worst luck ever. _Slowly, tensely, she stepped forward to center stage. She could feel the director's eyes piercing into her like knives.

CRESS

_I feel terrible for Cinder. But more for myself, actually. Why did I do this again? I'm a terrible singer._ Backing into the wings, Cress realized she was shaking from head to toe. Scarlet patted her arm awkwardly.

SCARLET

_Oh, poor Cinder. Typical mean teacher, picking on the nervous ones. What's the best way to get revenge for Cinder and make her so mad she kicks me out? Think, Scarlet, think._ She wasn't the slightest bit nervous about her audition. She didn't care what that insolent lady thought of her, much less any of the popular kids.

KAI

_She came. I can't believe it._ He had tried his best to convince her, but she had still seemed doubtful the last time he saw her. _Must have had a change of heart_, one part of him said. But the other, smaller part, argued, _What if she didn't? What if she's here... for you?_

CINDER

_Oh no._ Her eyes locked with Kai's for the briefest of seconds, and he smiled encouragingly while she looked away. _Great. I can make a fool of myself in front of the cutest boy in school..._

THORNE

_I was not expecting Cinder to be here. She seems like the last person who would ever be interested in theater._

WOLF

_I want to talk to Scarlet. She looks confident. I do not want to be here... Think about Ma. She would want you to be here. She gave up everything to let you have a good childhood and education. You have to do this._

LEVANA

_Who's Kai smiling at?_

CHANNARY

_Looks like a terrible lot this year. I bet not one of them has an ounce of talent._

CRESS

_I'm so nervous. Oh no, Thorne is here!_ He caught her eye and winked. Blushing, she backed farther away and tripped over her own feet in the corner, somehow becoming entangled in a swath of curtain fabric.

THORNE

_Aw, it's that tiny little girl from the bathroom. Wasn't expecting her to be here, either. She looks terrified._ He puffed out his chest. _I'm probably the only one here not nervous. Come on, guys. It's just a little audition. Easy peasy._

SCARLET

_It looks like Wolf wants to come over, but that big doofus is too shy. Whatever._ She peeked out of the wings at her friend. _Wow, Cinder is actually pretty good at singing._

CINDER

_I'm a terrible singer, but I tried my best._ "It wasn't too bad, was it?" she whispered to her friends as she left the stage.

KAI

Cinder wasn't the best singer he had ever heard, but something about her confidence and bold personality stuck with him. She walked off that stage like she owned it, like she didn't care what anyone else thought about her. _I wish I could be like that. Levana's always told me that I care too much._

CRESS

_She's pointing at me._

WINTER

_The aura of the room is dark. Too many negative thoughts. Everyone needs to calm down. It's hurting my head..._ The last time she had felt this much darkness in the air... her mind was transported back to the body of little twelve-year-old Winter, huddling against the wall as Levana advanced on her with a knife.

JACIN

_No, Winter, please no. Not now. I can't deal with this._ She collapsed into his arms. He had thought doing the play with her would be a fun activity, something easy and harmless to take her mind off all the pain and trauma of the past. But nope. Jacin sighed. He loved Winter (not just as a sister, something in him whispered), but it could be exhausting to always have to comfort her and help her. This was Jacin's very existence. Loyal to the core, but still aching to be seen as a person and not just Winter's protector.

CRESS

Somehow, Cress didn't feel nervous anymore walking out onto the stage. Maybe it was the threat of embarrassing herself in front of Thorne, or maybe she just didn't want to let the director intimidate her. She lifted her gaze, cleared her throat, and began to sing.

SCARLET

_Why don't I just sing the parts that are supposed to be spoken and speak the parts that are supposed to be sang? That would be hilarious_. She could see Wolf, out of the corner of her eye, staring at her as she stifled a snort, but she ignored him.

WOLF

Staring at Scarlet, watching her laugh at some private joke she was telling herself, eyes sparkling mischievously, red curls bouncing... it was impossible not to notice that she was incredibly pretty.

CINDER

"Scarlet, please don't get in trouble. Trust me, that woman is not someone you want to cross. Plus, you have to be there for Cress and me." She stopped talking abruptly as a hush silenced the chatter in the wings. Anxious about Cress, she peeked out from behind the curtain. She stood there, dumbstruck, listening to her friend's voice lift and dip and soar, high and clear. This was why Cress had wanted to do the play. She deserved to share her talent with the world.

CRESS

_I actually think I did okay._

THORNE

_That was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard._

WINTER

"I'm okay," she whispered to Jacin, who had caught her under the arms. "I can feel happiness now."

JACIN

_And she's back. Back from whatever mental pocket of despair and horror she gets trapped in whenever a sight or sound or smell is too much. She's never told me what happens during that time... but I suspect she relives all the terror of her past. The murder of her father, Levana scarring her... I wish I could ease her of her pain. But I can't. So I have to be there for her, in whatever way possible._

KAI

Kai grinned at Cinder, trying to catch her eye from across the stage. She had done amazing and he wanted to tell her that. But she seemed preoccupied, talking to her redhead friend. Sighing, Kai decided he would just talk to her later. When he turned back to the kids he was sitting with, he was faced with a far bigger obstacle than Cinder not seeing - ignoring? - him. Seeing Levana's suspicious glare was like a dagger to the chest. _Kai, what are you doing?_ Unbidden, the words of advice Torin had spoken to him after he and Levana became a couple floated to the surface of his mind_. Be careful, Kai_.

CINDER

After finishing with her audition, she had been stealing glances at Kai every few minutes, watching him talk and laugh easily with the rest of his squad. That was a group she would never be a part of. _Get over him. He's not on your level_. She turned to talk to Scarlet, who was still dreaming up creative ways to punish the director. But her eyes kept flitting back over to Kai against her will. When she turned around again, Kai and Levana were locked in a fierce kiss. She swallowed.

KAI

_So this is Levana's way of showing that I'm hers... make someone else jealous. Wonderful._

WOLF

_I honestly don't know what I'm doing here. It's clear I don't belong. But I made a commitment and I'm going to stick to it._ He lumbered onto the stage when called, shuffling awkwardly with none of the coordination he had on a football field or in a wrestling ring. Bracing for ultimate humiliation, he began to sing.

SCARLET

Breaking off from her conversation with Cinder, she looked at Wolf standing with terrible posture out there. A smile flitted over her face. He looked so silly, this massively muscled boy shaking all over, probably a result of nerves, holding a piece of paper and singing to audition for a role in a musical. She had to bite back laughter at the thought of him in a cape or some other silly costume dancing and singing on the stage in front of hundreds of people. His deep, sonorous voice filled the room as she giggled watching him.

WOLF

_I wonder if Scarlet is watching. I bet she's thinking about how stupid I look. Remind me why I did this again?_

WINTER

_Jacin has been telling me for ages now that I should make some more friends, that I should have a social circle bigger than him. Well, now's the perfect time to start._

SCARLET

She was surprised to feel a hand tapping her on the shoulder. "Uh...hi," she said to the girl standing before her. Upon closer examination, she realized that she was looking at the girl always trailing at the back of Levana's pack. She was the same age as them, but something about her made her seem younger. Scarlet had seen online posts about her calling her the most beautiful girl in the country, which might make you think that she was stuck-up and pretentious, but Cress had told her that the girl was actually really nice and helped out at the local animal shelter. "I'm Scarlet."

WINTER

_She looks like she could be a friend_. "I'm Winter."

SCARLET

Three two-inch long lines slashed through the perfect skin of her cheek, ruining the otherwise perfect face. Looking closer into her golden-brown eyes, Scarlet saw something in them that reminded her of her own life: the pain of missing a family member, the loneliness of having no friends.

JACIN

_Looks like she's finally taking my advice._ He swallowed. But if she makes more friends, they might hurt her feelings or ask prying questions or do things that would tip her over the edge... He shook the thoughts aside. _Think about Winter. Your primary goal in life is to make her happy. And if she's finally brave enough to make new friends, let her do it._ Another, smaller voice in his head whispered, _Maybe if she can make friends, they'll be your friends too._

KAI

_I hope Cinder is okay. Levana certainly put on a show there. On the other hand, she looks like she has awesome friends. They're laughing over there together. I wish I had friends who actually talked to me and helped support me. I wish I had friends who really knew me._

CRESS

_Maybe I'll be able to accomplish my bucket list this year. Make a new friend, check. Sing in front of other people, check. Try out for the musical, check. Crescent Moon Darnel is going to smash senior year!_

WOLF

_This is a chance to make friends and fix up your life before college. Don't blow it._

THORNE

_Ladies, I'm single if anyone is interested._

CINDER

_This year might not be as bad as I thought it would be. I have friends, Scarlet and Cress and possibly Winter. And I have Kai. I'm not really sure what he is to me yet._

WINTER

_This could be the start of something new. I just have to relax and "go with the flow," let things happen around me and accept them. Whatever that means. It's what Jacin and my therapist are always telling me to do._

EVERYONE

_Today was a good day._

**These are going to be the most fun scenes to write - the gang is forming! I love each and every character and the scenes in the books where they have funny conversations are my favorites. **

**Obviously, I'm not going to write the rest of the story in this format. I decided to try something different because I wanted to represent all the different perspectives and intersecting threads of the story, without writing a long section for each character. Marissa Meyer said that one of her favorite things about the Lunar Chronicles is the large cast of characters, and I want to give them each a unique voice in the story. So what do you guys think? Success or failure? I can always rewrite this chapter if you guys think it didn't work. If it was good, leave a review and I'll maybe write some other scenes with all the characters like this!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Update on the coronavirus situation: My school is canceled for several weeks and we're not even allowed to leave the house here, so I'm planning on writing a lot over the weekend. Basically all I've been doing is reading and watching YouTube. What are you guys doing to pass the time? Hopefully reading this chapter makes your day a little bit less boring!**

As the weather grew drearier with the prospect of winter, the mood inside the school refused to dampen. Or at least that's how Cinder felt. She didn't pay attention to the feelings of her classmates, to preoccupied with her own life now. It was like she and her new friends were living inside a bubble of happiness. A few weeks had passed since the play tryouts, and life had continued on as usual. But everything felt completely different for the girls. They had each other now.

They were all working harder than ever at school. The time to send in their college applications was drawing closer, and each person fretted about where to go and what to choose and what they wanted to do with their lives. Cress was the only one not stressed out. She had already received several full scholarships to top-notch computer science and programming-focused colleges. Instead of writing ten million essays, she was now devoting her time to creating the perfect project for the annual STEM Fair. Cress wasn't a bragger, but Scarlet had informed Cinder that Cress won every year and most of the time even advanced to nationals. When Cress wasn't hanging out with them, she was hooked to her laptop, phone, library book, or research paper, cramming as much information into her brain as possible and scribbling little notes in a notebook. Finally, Cinder had asked what her project was about that made her so fascinated, and Cress had responded with a dreamy smile on her face.

"The moon," she told her friend. "For my project, I'm going to invent a believable system for permanent human inhabitation on planetary bodies, considering, of course, the factors of complex topography, lunar poles, and the atmospherical dust environment." Cinder had blinked in confusion, trying to figure out what that meant, but before she could ask another question Cress had stuck her nose back in her book.

Cinder was focused on her work at the mechanic shop, as having a good letter of recommendation from her boss would significantly increase her chances of getting into a decent college where she could study engineering and mechanics. Since it was close to downtown, the girls stopped by frequently to say hello and deliver her lattes on early Saturday mornings. But it was Kai's visits she really looked forward to. Since the play tryouts, it had felt like he was withdrawing, although maybe she was just imagining it. His visits became few and far between, and when they passed in the hallways he barely acknowledged her. _He has a girlfriend, _she chastised herself. It was better that he stayed away from her. But she couldn't stop her heart from flip-flopping in her chest every time he joked around with her or made a thoughtful observation about something that she would have never thought of.

The Robotics Club was still hard at work on their project. Wanting nothing more than to beat their longtime rivals at the competition this year, the team threw themselves into designing, planning, coding, programming, and, Cinder's favorite activity, building. All the kids were thrilled when Cinder, a new member, revealed her talent for putting parts together and making sure everything worked in exactly the right way. "We're going to win, with you in the club!" several people told her.

Scarlet was still not thrilled about being part of the school musical, but her friends begged her not to quit. They hadn't gotten the results of the audition yet, but she was dreading them. She would bet just about anything that all the popular kids had gotten the main roles and Scarlet and her friends would be in the chorus.

But there was another upside to being part of this program. Ever since the tryout, Wolf had been on friendly terms with her, smiling and greeting her in the hallways. He had even come up to their table at lunch, trembling, to ask her a question about the science homework. They had scooted to the end of the table together, to the surprise of her friends, and she had pointed out some places in the homework where he had made mistakes. After finishing with the homework much too quickly for their liking, they had said an awkward goodbye and rejoined their personal groups - Scarlet, with her friends, and Wolf, with his group of boys. She didn't think of them as a fierce, terrifying wolf pack anymore. Now that she had lost all inklings of fear and suspicion against Wolf, she had found he had quite a polite personality and was a very interesting friend.

She could tell her friends were whispering behind her back at her strange choice of a friend, but she didn't care. Once they got to know Wolf better, they would realize that he wasn't the gangster bad boy everyone thought he was.

* * *

Jacin could tell that Winter was getting better. With her new friends, she seemed to feel happier and more relaxed. She rarely had mental breakdowns anymore. Every day after school, he no longer had to shuttle her back to her house after a fit of crazy so that there would be nothing to upset her. Now, they could roam the streets of shops in downtown Commonwealth City every day. Winter quickly established all her "favorite" places - pointing them out as they passed, "Oh, yeah, that's my favorite coffee shop," - as if they had walked these streets their entire lives rather than a single lousy week. But he didn't point this out to her. He was just as eager to explore as she was, and he was so grateful that she was getting better that he treated her to jewelry and snacks and whatever she wanted.

Now that they were establishing a somewhat normal social life, Jacin was starting to realize how closed off he had been before. He had never really had friends, thinking they would get in the way of protecting Winter. Because Winter always had to come first. He would do anything for her. He couldn't afford to have any kind of social life for the fear that she would have a breakdown when he wasn't there. He always had to be there.

Scarlet, the fierce motorcycle-driving waitress and the only one he somewhat trusted out of Winter's new group, had picked up on his defensive vibes quickly. "Look, I can tell you're used to protecting Winter all the time," she had said after pulling him aside, looking him right in the eyes," And you're reluctant to give that job to anyone else, or even drop a tiny bit of the burden. But we want to be friends with Winter. We care for her. You can relax. Please trust us."

Jacin had given the appropriate response: a tight smile, a thank-you and a vague comment about how yes, he would trust them to handle Winter at times. But on the inside, he knew that he could never lift the heavy burden even a tiny bit. Not ever. Winter was the most important thing in his life, and he would not let anything happen to her. So much had happened to her already. The murder of her beloved big brother, Evret Hayle had just been the starting line in a devastating chain of events. The suicide of her parents, the suing against Levana for manipulating her boyfriend, the court appeal in which the judge declared Levana not guilty and even granted her temporary custody over Winter since she was the only person available to take her in. Soon after, Winter's life had been uprooted when she moved in with Levana, not within walking distance of Jacin's house anymore, and was completely neglected. Jacin didn't know the full story, but from what Winter had told him, she had been completely neglected and not given food or even a bed as well as constantly abused by Levana's male friends. Just thinking about that period in her life made him clench his fists with a burning desire to clamp them around that girl's throat.

He couldn't remember when he had first started catching feelings for her. Maybe it was the moment they first met, when she had raced up to him excitedly the second he stepped foot into the preschool classroom, saying, "Hey! The new boy can be the guard! I call being the princess!" for their game of make-believe. That had been back when they were young and innocent and carefree, and none of the traumatic events had happened to Winter yet. Maybe it was the moment when they were seven and he hadn't been invited to a classmate's Halloween party, so he been sitting at home, moping and without a costume before Winter stormed in like a tiny tornado and practically shoved a homemade Prince Charming costume onto his body. He could still remember the exact expression on her face, glowing with affection as she twirled around in her frilly Snow White costume, grabbing his hand and forcing him to twirl with her. Maybe it was the moment when they were twelve and Jacin had been sent to his room as a punishment for running around with Winter after school when he was supposed to be studying, and Winter had snuck out at night to come to visit him. The mischievous expression on her face coupled with the moonlight catching the glint in her eyes was preserved in his memory, a single happy moment.

It didn't really matter when it had happened. All Jacin knew was that he was completely, totally in love with his childhood best friend.

At lunchtime, all five of them were seated comfortably at their table in the back of the cafeteria. Jacin had never been happy about sitting with Levana and her friends, but Winter seemed to think she was obliged to, and wherever she went, he went too. So he was much more comfortable at this table, even though he was the only boy and didn't talk to the others much. It made him pleased to see Winter finally opening up and connecting with friends other than him.

"Did you guys here there's an outbreak of chickenpox near Commonwealth City?" Scarlet asked the others. "Twenty people have died already."

"That's terrible!" gasped Cress. She became thoughtful. "Maybe that could be my project next year. How to stop the fast spread of viruses."

"I just hope it doesn't reach here," Cinder shuddered.

"Ring around the rosie, pockets full of posy," Winter sang idly, staring into the distance. Jacin shivered at the eerie sound of her voice. She stopped singing. "The plague song."

Cinder smiled wistfully. "That was my favorite nursery rhyme when I was a kid."

**A/N: Do you guys remember the first scene in Cinder where she is watching a bunch of kids singing this song and she laughs because they're getting in the way of all the other shoppers? Just one of those small tie-ins that I like using in this story.**

"The SnowBall is coming up soon, too," said Cress. "I saw the poster on the bulletin board in the hallway."

Scarlet began to roll her eyes, but Cinder interrupted. "What do you mean, the snowball?" she asked in confusion.

Winter, Scarlet, and Cress all laughed. "I always forget that you're new here, Cinder," said Scarlet. "It's a Commonwealth High School tradition. I guess it should be Snow space Ball, but everyone just calls it the SnowBall."

"Oh, I get it now. So it's a ball in winter?"

"Yup. Right after the musical. It's like a mid-year celebration," Scarlet explained. "But it's basically just a less-important version of prom. Everyone makes a huge deal about who's going with who and they even elect a Snow Queen and Ice King."

Cinder burst out into guffaws. "I would rather die than be given the title of Snow Queen," she snorted. "And Ice King? That's even worse!"

"Yeah, it is pretty ridiculous," said Cress. Her eyes became dreamy. "But I still like dressing up! We absolutely have to go dress shopping together."

Scarlet stared at her incredulously. "Cress, there's no way we're going. I hate dresses. And none of us would have a date."

"Oh, yes we are going!" Cress insisted. "I haven't ever gone before because I didn't have anyone to go with. But now we have friends! We can be a friend-date."

Cinder sighed. "I'm not the biggest fan of dresses..." When Cress made her blue eyes go huge and stuck out her lip, Cinder laughed. "But you know I can't resist puppy-dog eyes. I'm fine with going. I don't really care."

"Winter?" Cress turned hopefully to her.

Winter gave the dazzling smile that she usually only reserved for Jacin. Her dark curls bobbed fervently as she nodded her head. "I love to dress up too. Plus, Jacin can be my date." She put an arm around his shoulders and tugged him closer, smiling at him. They had touched each other and hugged and even slept together since they were little kids, but suddenly it felt awkward. Jacin forced himself to smile back, trying not to concentrate on how her fingers brushed the bare skin above his unbuttoned collar and the way their legs pressed together.

Scarlet sighed reluctantly. "I guess. I'm pretty sure that all musical cast members are required to go so that everyone can celebrate them. Because we are going to do so fabulous in the play," she added sarcastically.

"Come on, we'll be fine," Cress said breezily. "Sounds like we have a plan! I'm actually excited for the SnowBall this year."

* * *

Peony hadn't come to school that day because she had woken up feeling sick. Cinder decided to tell her boss that she couldn't come to work that day so that she could go home and look after her sister. She knew that her stepmother was at home, claiming to be looking after Peony, but she doubted Adri was very competent in medicine.

As soon as she arrived at the Phoenix Tower Apartments, she went straight up to Peony's bedroom. Laying a cool washcloth on Peony's forehead, Adri glared at her. "What are you doing here? Skipping out of work, I assume, Cinder."

Cinder glared. "It's not like you have a job, Adri. Back off."

Looking highly affronted, Adri put her fingers to her mouth in surprise and indignation. "Excuse me, cyborg, but I will not be spoken to in that way!"

Flinching, Cinder pushed past her and went to Peony's bedside. "Cyborg" was something that Adri hadn't called her in years. It was a term that described a person who had metal prostheses instead of human limbs like her. Calling her that was one of Adri's best, most hurtful tactics to get Cinder to listen.

Not this time, however. Cinder had eyes for only Peony. "You feeling okay?"

Peony managed a smile. "Much better than I did this morning." Feeling Adri's sullen glare, Peony turned to her mother. "Mom, can you leave for a second? I want to talk to Cinder." Adri pursed her lips but ultimately decided that responding to her daughter's wishes was more important than her feud with her ward. She had always disapproved of her Peony and Cinder's relationship, thinking that Cinder had a bad influence on her daughter.

The second her mother left the room, Peony let out a long, drawn-out sigh and propped herself higher up on the pillows. "She's been driving me crazy," sighed her sister. "I'm sure all I have is a little cold, but she's making a huge deal out of it. Peony, can I get you this? Peony, you need to eat something. Peony, is it too cold in here?" she mimicked her mother in a high, snooty voice. Cinder laughed. "Anyway, how's your day been?"

Cinder told her all about the upcoming SnowBall. This boosted Peony's spirits a lot. "I can't wait!" her sister gushed. "It'll be so much fun to get dresses and do our hair and our makeup!"

"You should meet my friend Cress," Cinder told her affectionately. "You two have a lot in common." She leaned down and stroked Peony's soft black hair.

"Cinder," Peony whispered suddenly. Started, Cinder leaned forward to hear her better.

"I want to go somewhere," she said softly. Cinder was confused.

"You can't leave the house, you're sick."

"Exactly!" her sister wailed, louder. "I'm stuck in this house and I'm so bored. I'm not even that sick. I feel fine! I just need to get away from mom."

That, Cinder could relate to. "All right," she said slowly. "Where do you want to go?"

**This is probably one of my favorite chapters so far. I spent two hours writing it, so if you liked it please review and follow this story!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Raining here again and I'm super bored. Thanks for all the positive feedback! **

"Can we go see Iko?" Peony whispered, barely a breath of sound. She looked up, eyes shining. "Our old home isn't that far away. We can take the shuttle."

Cinder's heart softened for her earnest sister. She had forgotten that Iko and Peony were friends too, not as close as Iko and Cinder, but still friends. Peony probably didn't message and FaceTime her regularly as Cinder did, so Cinder was sure her sister missed Iko terribly. Cinder's mood brightened at the prospect of seeing Iko again, her cheerful personality, wonderful sense of sarcasm, and bubbly laugh that filled the whole room. But sometimes she had to be the responsible older sister, even though she wanted nothing more than to scoop Peony up and race to the shuttles.

"I'm sorry, Peony," Cinder told her, still stroking her hair. "I can't take you there. Adri would kill me." Both of them knew that this was not an understatement. Adri would kill her stepdaughter - who she wanted to get rid of even when Cinder hadn't done anything wrong - for putting Peony in danger.

"Please, Cinder!" Peony begged. "I just want to s-see Iko." Her voice hiccuped a little, and Cinder's heart twinged. Peony stared up at her, brown eyes luminous and shining, and Cinder knew that there was no way she could resist.

"All right, fine," she gave in. "But if Adri gets mad, you have to say it was your idea, 'kay?"

"Of course," Peony smiled, flipping her hair off her shoulder in a self-assured way. "She'll never get mad at me."

_No, she won't, she'll just blame me even if Peony says it was her idea,_ Cinder thought, but she didn't care at the moment. She just wanted to give Peony this bit of happiness.

"Let's go, then," Cinder grinned at her, already at the door.

* * *

After the one-hour shuttle ride out of Commonwealth City back to their old town, Artemisia, the magical energy of adventure still crackled in the air around them. It felt good to be defying Adri in this way. Cinder and Peony felt empowered as if they could do anything. Cinder hadn't called Iko to tell her they were coming. She wanted it to be a surprise.

Walking through the residential neighborhood, toward Iko's house, the sisters twirled and skipped and giggled happily. Peony looked like she was feeling much better, although there was still a pinkish sheen on her face. "Look, it's our old school!" Peony exclaimed. She pointed toward the middle school they had attended. Cinder started with surprise. She hadn't been there in so long. She suddenly realized that she now thought of Commonwealth High as her school, not just a new school. Being back there felt wrong.

Peony seemed to be thinking the same thing. "I miss my old friends, but Commonwealth High just feels normal now," she murmured, staring through the chain-link fence at the pristine white school buildings.

"I don't have any friends to miss, other than Iko," Cinder muttered dryly. "Not like you." She looked at her sister playfully. "You've had, what - six boyfriends?"

Rolling her eyes, her sister retorted, "For your information, only two. But on that subject..." Peony grinned at her mischievously. "I saw Kai looking at you during the play tryouts. I could hardly believe I was actually seeing him in person. You guys would make a cute couple..."

Now it was Cinder's turn to roll her eyes. "For _your _information, I only know him because I fixed his car in the mechanic shop. We've talked to each other a few times since then. We're _acquaintances_."

Peony seemed shocked. She, like nearly every girl in the country, was madly in love with Kai. "You fixed Kai's car and you didn't tell _me_?" she exclaimed, voice pitching on the "me." She punched Cinder on the arm. "It's been weeks since you started working at the mechanic shop!"

"Yeah..." Cinder trailed off sheepishly. "Forgot to tell you about that."

Peony sniffed, but Cinder could tell she was just joking. "I'll forgive you if you get me a dance with him at the SnowBall."

"Peony, you can't just ask someone that you barely know to dance with them at a school dance! Besides, he has a girlfriend."

"Oh yeah, that Levana girl," Peony snorted. "She thinks she's super famous, but I had never heard of her."

"She's not a television actor like Kai," Cinder said. "She's just a model."

"Well, I don't understand how she ever became a model. She doesn't have natural beauty like you! You can tell she wears a pound of makeup every day!" Peony exclaimed indignantly.

That statement made Cinder laugh. "I so do not have natural beauty, Peony. You're the pretty one."

Peony studied her thoughtfully. "You're pretty in a sort of... careless way. It's like, you didn't do anything with your hair and you constantly have grease marks on your face but that's what makes you prettier. And you're so tall and slender. Maybe not pretty enough for Kai, but pretty enough for someone."

"Wow, thank you for that evaluation," Cinder joked. She decided to ignore the fact that Peony though only gorgeous girls would catch the eye of Kai. She turned serious. "I'm never going to get married, though."

"Why not?" Peony asked curiously. "I know you don't like little kids very much, but don't you believe in true love?"

"I... I guess I believe in love, but not true love. The idea that there's only one person out there for you is ridiculous. That's fairy tale crap, not true love." For some reason, she felt tears bubbling up in her eyes. "And you know the reason that true love doesn't work? It's because appearance skews perception. What if someone finds their perfect person - perfect on the inside - but they have a condition on the outside that makes them weird, or ugly or something. And then they'll never get to know their true love because they'll never give them a chance. Just because of their appearance."

"A condition..." prompted Peony, "Like a metal leg?"

"Yes." The word felt fragile in Cinder's mouth. Barely a tiny wisp that escaped out into the world, into Peony's ears. Stripping her bare and letting everyone see her greatest fears and insecurities.

"Oh, Cinder," Peony sighed, wrapping her arms tightly around her sister. Cinder bit her tongue and squeezed her fists to prevent more tears from slipping out. "You'll find them. I promise. You're too amazing of a person to not find true love."

"Kai doesn't know."

"What?"

"Kai doesn't know about my condition." Memories flitted through her brain. Kai's easy, careless smile at the mechanic shop. His jokes. His earnest eyes as he tried to persuade her to try out for the play. Would he have done any of it, if he had known about her prostheses?

"Cinder, it's not that big of a deal. Plenty of people have prostheses." A pause in which Peony could tell Cinder was rolling her eyes. "Well, not really, but you don't have to be ashamed." She reached forward to tug on the fingers of Cinder's gloves. "It's not your fault."

Cinder yanked her hands harshly away. "I never take these off," she whispered. "Peony, don't you understand? A bully isn't just someone who beats you up. A bully can be someone who stares at you a little too long. A bully can be someone who doesn't understand your condition and speaks insensitively. A bully may not even realize what they're doing."

"But if they don't realize the impact of their actions..." Peony was confused at why Cinder was so defensive all of a sudden. "If they don't mean it..."

"It doesn't matter! It still hurts my feelings!" Cinder stormed angrily ahead. They were barely paying attention to where they were walking. "Peony, do you know how people treated me at our old school? The constant remarks, the jokes, the pointing, the staring... They called me a monster. They tried to pull off my prostheses. The reason I hide my limbs under the gloves and the pants and the boots is so nothing like that happens ever again."

"I'm sorry, Cinder," Peony whispered. But it didn't matter anymore. The bullying was in the past. The only reason she had brought it up was so Peony could fully grasp the realities of someone wh different. Her sister was radiant and perfect, with all her body parts and gorgeous curves. Cinder knew that no one else would really understand. Empathy was better than sympathy, but it wasn't even close to actually living the person's life.

* * *

"CINDER! PEONY!" came a very familiar scream from the front porch of Iko's house. The girls had completed the rest of the walk in silence, each thinking about what they had just said. They were just walking over Iko's front lawn when she spotted them from inside and flung the door open. "I haven't seeeeeen you guys in sooooo long!"

They collided at the door in a huge hug. Iko's mass of blue braids cascaded over all of their shoulders. Iko pulled back for a second, excited and breathless and then flung her arms around them again. "I missed you guys so much! You have no idea what it's been like here."

Cinder's stomach twisted guiltily. She was often so preoccupied with her troubles that she rarely thought about what Iko was going through, having lost two of her best friends. "Have you been okay? Who do you hang out with at school?"

"Oh, the old crowd," Iko waved her hand dismissively. "I'm totally fine. I've made a ton of friends. But enough about me. What about you guys? Anyone cool at Commonwealth High? Cinder, I heard you're buddy-buddy with Kaito Lee now."

Cinder flinched, reminded of her and Peony's earlier conversation. "It's no big deal. I just helped him with his car." She hoped her tone indicated that Iko should drop the subject. "I have some awesome friends now. Scarlet, Cress, and Winter. Oh, and a guy named Jacin, but he's more like Winter's bodyguard and I don't know him very well yet, so I wouldn't call him a friend. You would like the girls, though, Iko. Especially Scarlet. She's smart and brave and bold, just like you. And Cress is super sweet and kind. Winter is... interesting, but I think you would still like her. She loves clothes and shopping too!" Peony and Cinder continued to talk telling Iko every detail of their new lives. Peony talked about all the gossip at their high school, while Cinder thought it was more important to tell Iko about the Robotics Club. They told her about the play tryouts and how they hoped they would get a good part - well, Peony wanted a solo singing part, Cinder most definitely did not.

The three had a fun night together. It felt just like old times as they roamed around the familiar streets, Peony and Iko squealing every few blocks when they came across an exciting display of clothes in a shop window. But even though Cinder spoke when spoken to and laughed at Iko's jokes along with her sister, something just felt off. Their conversation earlier continued to plague her, and she tried to hide how unfocused she was.

Of course, Iko and Peony had to stop in every shop that looked interesting and buy something from every single cute boutique. Cinder, on the other hand, was more interested when they came across a dark, eerie-looking lot. From her vantage point, she could see tall piles of all sorts of machinery and scrap metal and discarded parts. The towering stacks formed a sort of maze that towered over them, forbidding and mysterious.

"I don't think I've ever been here before," Cinder said, checking Google Maps to figure out where they were. "But I have been wanting to get a new timing belt lately..."

Peony clutched her sister's arm. "Cinder, are you sure you want to go in there? It looks scary."

Cinder strode ahead. "Come on, it'll be fine." With a reluctant glance at each other, Peony and Iko followed. Cinder prowled among all the piles of spare parts in the junkyard, taking out her phone to cast a light through the darkness. Her eyes ran over ever bit of machinery and glint of metal there was, searching and scanning for the part she needed.

"Hey! Come look at this!" called Peony from a few stacks away. She and Iko had been idly following Cinder, checking their phones, but now they had stopped. They were standing in front of what looked like the hood of a car poking out from a mass of scrap metal and spare parts folded around it.

"Is that a car?" Cinder asked, curiously walking closer. Upon closer examination, she realized that it was a car - from the state of it, probably an old one. She could see why no one had wanted it. It was painted a sickly orange-yellow color and its condition had deteriorated over the years while it sat in the junkyard. "Good find, Peony."

Cinder poked around the car for a little while, examining its underside and under the hood and all of the parts. She was looking for a timing belt but was also curious about the car. Adri was the only one in their family who had a car, even though Pearl and Cinder both had their licenses. If Cinder had a ton of money, one of the first things she would by would be a car. Not only would she not have to walk to school and the mechanic shop, but it would also allow her a great deal of freedom once she was old enough to go to college. She wouldn't have to depend on Adri for anything. She could just take off and never have to see her again.

They walked back to Iko's house slowly, Cinder clutching the timing belt, Iko laughing about the way Peony had screamed when she encountered a rat in the junkyard, none of them wanting to say goodbye. It had been a wonderful night, but all things have to come to an end. On the front porch once again, the three girls hugged as tightly as they could. "I promise to call you every night," Cinder said, trying to make Iko feel better. It was clear that she missed her friends a lot. Cinder suspected she might even be slightly jealous of their busy, upbeat lives in the city.

Only when Peony and Cinder had taken the shuttle back into the city and safely snuck back into the apartment without Adri noticing they had been gone did she realize that Iko had never told her who her new friends were.

**I'm sure you guys can predict what's going to happen next... **

**Of course, there was no way Iko couldn't appear in this story. She's one of the best characters and I'm still trying to think of a conceivable way to have her move to Commonwealth City. **

**I love it when the characters surprise me. I was intending to write this as a lighthearted chapter where the girls hung out and had fun together, but somehow Cinder and Peony just started to have this deep conversation. Hope you liked it!**


	18. Chapter 18

**This is super random, but I realized today that I joined FanFiction exactly 100 days ago! I'm so happy that I joined because I think it's been a really good way for me to practice writing and have fun creating something. Thank you for all the support on all of my stories! **

**Sorry I haven't written in a while. Staying at home all the time makes you feel lazy. The good news is that I've been planning out the next part of the plot and I'm pretty excited to write it. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

Flames. All around her. Licking at her skin and tearing at her limbs. When Cinder looked down, all she saw was ashes where there should've been a body. She was just a face and brain now. As she stared around at the waves of bright fury roaring around her like a monster she felt the rest of her head crumble away. And then she was gone. In her last glimpse of life before everything went black, she saw, beyond the flames, a crowd of people. Whole people, with all their limbs and skin and bones. And they were staring at her, eyes flashing and mouths cackling. Mocking her. Disgusted by her, a freak of nature.

Cinder started awake, panting, clutching at her arms, touching her face. Irrational as it was, she had somehow believed that the dream was real and she had been burned to death. _Burned to cinders, _she thought, smiling ironically. She often had that dream, of fire and smoke and people laughing at her, but never that vivid.

Shaking off any lingering remnants of the dream, she flopped back down onto her mattress. When she had been sleeping, she had been thrashing and kicking, so now Cinder's blankets and sheets were all twisted around. Kicking her legs around to free them of the constraining fabric, Cinder took steady breaths until her heart rate was normal. She closed her eyes and tried to go back to that blissful zone right between awake and asleep, where she could rest without fear of troubling dreams. The peace lasted only a few minutes before she was jolted awake at the sound of a scream.

Her body reacted faster than her brain and she raced out of her room and down the hall to her sister's room. When Cinder thought back to that moment, years later, she always wondered why she had run to Peony and not to Pearl or Adri or downstairs. Maybe it was because she truly cared about Peony in a way that she didn't care for the rest of her family, or maybe it was because she had felt a sort of premonition that something bad was happening to her sister. Either way, Cinder found herself at the doorway of Peony's bedroom, the world tilting slightly out of focus the way it does when you try to move quickly after just waking up.

Amid posters of Peony's favorite bands and movie stars and framed pictures of Pearl and Peony when they were little lay Cinder's sister, curled up in bed, moaning. Beads of sweat condensed on her face and Cinder could see every inch of her frail little body shivering. But what she cared about was the spots.

Itchy-looking, blister-like scabs covered Peony's body, marring her perfect, smooth skin. Adri let out a wail, looking toward the doorway helplessly. Cinder heard Pearl's footsteps pounding down the wall. Her older stepsister came to a halt beside her, dumbstruck.

Cinder's brain was churning, with shock, anxiety for Peony, but most of all, fear about what would come next. She thought about what Scarlet had told them at lunch. The chickenpox had recently made an appearance in several cities, infecting a few people and causing those carrier hosts to spread it everywhere unknowingly. But as far as she knew, it hadn't been identified in Commonwealth City yet...

Her heart lurched as she remembered their adventure last night to their old town. Without thinking, Cinder darted forward and grabbed Adri's arm, who was draped over Peony in misery. "Get away from her!" Cinder cried. Apparently, she was the only one who could put two and two together. There were lots of recent cases of chickenpox in other cities. This new strain was very dangerous and highly contagious. Peony had the chickenpox. They had to get away from her.

"Let me take care of my daughter!" Adri snapped, pushing Cinder roughly away. She wasn't even dressed, still wearing the silk kimono she had worn to sleep.

"You can't catch it!" Cinder said desperately. She didn't want to be responsible for bringing the chickenpox to Commonwealth City. Internally, she was smacking herself on the head. How had she been so stupid? Why on earth had she let Peony leave the house when she had a cold and her immune system was weak? "Pearl, help me!"

The other girl stared at her with big eyes. Cinder sighed in frustration. Pearl never had the bravery, the dignity, to act on her own. She only did something when she saw other people were doing it too. "Adri, please. Peony is contagious right now, and unless you want to be quarantined too, get away from her."

Adri, who's body had been rigid and tense while hovering over her daughter suddenly went slack with shock. "P-peony's not going to be quarantined..."

Sighing in exasperation, Cinder used Adri's vulnerability to grab her and pull her away from Peony. "The chickenpox needs to be contained before it spreads too much. Of course she's going to be quarantined." The words sounded braver than Cinder felt. She shuddered at the thought of her sweet, harmless little sister lying alone without her family or friends or even a comfortable bed. She couldn't go to the quarantines.

But... she had to. And it was Cinder's duty as a responsible sister to call the emergency services. She couldn't afford to go easy on her sister and make a mistake like the one she had made last night. Sometimes you have to follow your head, even when your heart is telling you something different.

* * *

Hours later, Cinder paced around the hospital waiting room. After the heavily masked and protected medical workers had taken Peony away, the remaining three had rushed over in their car. Now, Adri lay curled up in one of the cheap, overly sanitized chairs, hands over her face like she was trying to block out the agony of the world. Pearl was tucked into a chair next to her mother, knees pressed against her chest. She had tried to entertain herself by looking at her phone for a while but eventually gave up and was now just staring blankly into space.

Cinder had taken the approach of not trying to block out anything or shy away from the facts. Her sister was sick, and it was hard to accept, but she would have to eventually, so why not now? For the first few hours of their wait, she had interrogated a medical assistant and tried to learn as much as possible about the chickenpox and the new strain that had recently broken out in nearby cities. But after a while, the information grew too worrying for Cinder to handle as she imagined her beloved sister in one of the hastily constructed, already overflowing quarantines.

And now she was pacing. Because she had too much nervous energy to sit down and also wanted to be the first to see when the doctor came with news about Peony. Her phone, lying on the chair next to Pearl, beeped yet again with that annoying buzz. She ignored it, yet again. Cinder was sure that all her friends were worried about why she wasn't at school, but she didn't feel like talking to them right now, even though she knew they would be as compassionate and accepting as ever.

The doctor came out a few minutes later and confirmed that Peony did have the chickenpox and she was being quarantined right now. The woman used phrases like "to the best of our ability" and "highest level of comfort" but Cinder knew that if the chickenpox spread to more people, the hospital wouldn't care so much about the comfort of a single teenage girl. She also mentioned something about "tracing the origin of the pathogens." Cinder had assumed that Adri wasn't paying much attention from the look of her glazed eyes and lined face, but the second the doctor walked away Adri snapped into focus. Whipping out her phone, Adri pounded the screen with her fingers.

Cinder went back to pacing. The worst part about this whole thing was that she wouldn't be able to see Peony until she was fully back to normal. Since the chickenpox was so contagious, the hospital didn't want to risk anyone getting near her who didn't have to.

"Cinder." Adri's voice sliced through the air out of nowhere. It was so cold and sudden that Cinder flinched. She often heard undertones of disgust and disapproval in her stepmother's voice when she addressed her, but she had never sounded this sharp.

"Yes?" Cinder tried to make her voice light, to seem unruffled by Adri's glowering demeanor.

"What was my daughter doing in a junkyard in our old town yesterday night?" Adri emphasized the "my daughter" part as if to prove that Peony was her daughter and Cinder most definitely was not. "I just tracked her cell phone, and that's the location it recorded."

Cinder froze at the words. The inner voice that had been berating her all morning with accusations of Peony's illness being her fault grew louder, bolstered by the waves of silent anger rolling off Adri. "W-what do you mean?"

Her stepmother looked her right in the eye. "You know exactly what I mean."

The words seemed to hang in the air forever as they stared at each other. Cinder's range of view narrowed until the rest of the world - including Pearl's curious, suspicious eyes - was blocked out and all she could see was Adri's face tightening and her eyes narrowing to slits. What Adri had just said bounced around inside her head, and her body felt strangely hollow. Somehow, this time was different from all the other times Adri had yelled at her. It was because this was the first time Cinder had truly messed up. Normally when Adri got mad at her Cinder brushed it off, saying that Adri was being unfair and she really hadn't done anything wrong. But now... Pearl was shell-shocked and grief-stricken, Adri was more hateful and bitter than ever before, and Peony was lying in a hospital bed. It wasn't like she had never snuck out of the house or cheated on a test ever before. But this was something big. Lives were at stake.

All because of her mistakes.

Slowly, Cinder dropped her eyes. Her usually strong resolve was crumbling, burning to ashes as the flames of regret and sorrow raged at her. "I'm sorry," she whispered. She had thought her spirit could withstand anything. She never would have expected herself to defer to Adri.

Then again, she had never expected anything like this to happen.

"It's my fault," she managed to gasp out. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Pearl shaking with silent tears. Cinder blinked hard, but her eyes remained dry. She was too numb inside to really feel anything. "It's all my fault."

* * *

Navigating the hallways at Commonwealth High School when you were four foot ten was somewhat of a battle.

Elbows jostled all around Cress, everyone fighting to get to their respective classrooms while large, ungainly feet stomped all over her delicate ones. Her head barely reached the top of most people's shoulders, causing backpacks and bookbags to be constantly smacking her in the face. Cress generally darted out of her classroom as fast as she could the second the bell rang so that she wouldn't have to fight her way through the swarms.

But today, she lingered. She was looking for someone.

Cress went on the very tips of her toes and she still wasn't even close to being able to see over the crowd. It was a good thing that Scarlet had such vivid, bright hair. She was much easier to identify than most people. There was also no mistaking her friend's signature red sweatshirt.

"Scarlet!" she called, shoving her way into the pack of people the second she caught sight of Scarlet's bobbing mass of red curls. "Over here! Scar!" Once she reached her friend, she grabbed her by the elbow and the two backed away into a semi-private corner to talk.

"Have you seen Cinder?" Scarlet asked, brow creasing with worry.

"I was about to ask you that," Cress replied grimly. "I've been texting and calling her all morning but she still hasn't responded. "Maybe she's sick or something."

Scarlet frowned. "But I'm sure she would still talk to us. It doesn't make sense that she would completely ignore us."

Worry for her friend prompted Cress to do something she never would've dreamed of in all her years at Commonwealth High. She darted back into the hall, where the crowds were thinning as kids got to class. Only the ones who wanted to get in a few minutes of gossiping, socializing, or flirting remained.

"Kai!" Cress said, skidding around the corner to where the popular kids hung out. "I was going to ask you-" She came to a complete stop and broke off from speaking when she realizing that Levana and her friends were looking at her like she was a sea slug.

But she only had eyes for one person and was glad when Kai gave her a friendly smile. "Hi, Cress," he said politely. They weren't exactly friends, but Kai wasn't the kind of person to ever be unfriendly. "What did you want to ask me?"

"Have you seen Cinder?" Cress managed to get the rest of her sentence out as the other kids - all of whom were nearly a foot taller than her - stared at her. Judging her, she was sure, laughing at her clothes, hair, height... Cress ignored them as she stood there awkwardly, rocking back and forth on the spot, twisting her long blond hair between her nimble fingers the way she did whenever she was anxious.

Kai looked surprised. "Why do you ask?"

"Just because... er, Scarlet and I don't know where Cinder is, and we were a little worried," Cress began to stammer, realizing how idiotic she now sounded. If Cinder's best friends didn't know where she was, why would Kai know? Cress had thought that Cinder and Kai were pretty close, but now she realized that they were just business clients. Still, there was something in the way they looked at each other that made the part of Cress's brain that was overly romantic sigh.

Kai did look a little bit concerned for the mechanic. "She hasn't talked to me in a few days, so..." His lips tightened the tiniest bit as his girlfriend, Levana, leaned over to whisper something into a friend's ear.

Cress caught his drift. "Yeah, sorry to bother you. I guess - I guess I'll just wait for her to message me." She wasn't very confident in this plan, but it was all they could do now. As she turned to go, she saw Kai open his mouth as if to say something else - maybe to offer to help them look - but at the last second, he closed it and watched her go without a word.

* * *

The second the tiny blonde was out of sight, Levana let out a high-pitched burst of laughter and reached out to trail her long, manicured fingernails over Kai's arm. "Why would she think that you knew anything about that mechanic girl? I mean, you've barely even talked to her! She's really not the kind of person _we _associate with."

"Yeah..." Kai mumbled offhandedly, still staring down the hallway where Cress had retreated. He realized that Levana and the rest of their gang were staring at him. It was one of her tests, he realized. She knew that he found Cinder interesting. She wanted to see what he was going to do now.

Kai forced a laugh. "Definitely not," he said, even though he felt a pang of guilt. "Yeah, I barely know her."

This prompted the others into raucous laughter as some of them mimicked the way Cress had nervously rocked back and forth and laughed at Cinder's dorky boy clothes. Kai could hear snatches of conversation as they attacked every aspect of Cinder and her friends - "constantly covered in grease" "girls can't be mechanics" and "what a nerd, skipping two grades."

He heard it all. He ached to put them in their right place and tell them how _they _relied on their parents to pay for everything for them, while Cinder worked to make money to support her family. He wanted to tell them what a unique, smart, fiercely independent girl she was.

But all he did was listen.

**Aw, poor Peony. She's always been one of my favorite characters and I wish she hadn't died so that Marissa Meyer could have developed her a little more. I was always curious about their family dynamics: she loved her mother, but she also loved Cinder, who her mother hated. When Adri beat Cinder down, did Peony stick up for her or did she not want to make her mother mad? When they fought, did who did Peony side more with? Did Cinder ever get mad at her for still liking her mother when she was so cruel to Cinder?**

**Please favorite, follow, and review!**


	19. Chapter 19

Cinder did not appear at school the next day.

Or the next.

But soon her friends caught wind of what was happening. It was all over the news the next morning: the headline Chickenpox Outbreak Spreads to Nearby Commonwealth City, followed by a short article about a girl named Peony Linh. Cress had gasped when Scarlet grimly showed her the clipping she had torn out of the newspaper.

"Poor Cinder," Cress said softly. She couldn't even imagine what it would be like to know that your sibling was alone in the hospital and might never return.

"I know," Scarlet replied. Her mouth was set in a hard line. "The world can be really unfair sometimes. Come on, Cress, we should find Cinder and cheer her up."

"If she's even back. Her family is probably having a hard time."

"Good excuse to get out of doing the play."

The two girls stared at each other for a minute, Scarlet's eyes gleaming mischievously, Cress fidgeting with her hair. And then suddenly, inexplicably, they were laughing harder than they had ever laughed before.

* * *

Kai was horrified when he saw the article. Inside their mansion, it was the normal morning routine. His parents and their maid were going about their normal business, getting ready for the day as if his father had not just given them earth-shattering news. But Kai felt like the floor had dropped out beneath him.

"I know, it's a horrible thing," his father said, misreading the look on his face. "But we've survived worse outbreaks. And it's only one person so far, and apparently she caught it in the next town over."

"Don't worry, honey, it probably won't spread over here at all," his mother told him.

"No... I'm not worried about that," Kai said slowly. "It's just... that girl - Peony - she's barely fourteen. I feel terrible for her and her family."

His father gave him a funny look. "Do you know them?"

How to answer that question? He knew Cinder and yet he didn't know her. He wanted to be closer to her but he didn't get closer to her. So many answers nestled inside a simple question.

His mother saved him from answering. "I remember her, I think," she said. "I remember the day the two girls came and got their schedules when they moved her. Peony and Selene, was it?"

Kai scrunched up his face. "Who's Selene?"

"Peony's sister," his mother answered. Kai's father made an impatient grunting sound in the back of his throat that implied he thought their conversation was pointless and they should end it. Kai was surprised, even though he didn't know exactly why. He hadn't realized that Cinder was a nickname.

_Of course you didn't know, _he told himself_. You barely know her._

* * *

Later that day, Scarlet had arrived at the science classroom early. It was the first period after lunch, and normally Scarlet walked with Cress and Cinder to all their classes, but today Cress had Robotics Club so she was alone. She slipped unnoticed into the room and began unpacking her overstuffed backpack at the two-person worktable she normally shared with Cinder.

"Hi, Scarlet," Mr. Darnel greeted her, smiling amicably as he entered the classroom from his back office where, according to Cress, he carried out all sorts of crazy experiments. Mr. Darnel had always given her a mad scientist vibe, from his wild gray hair that was constantly tousled because of his hat and his sharp blue eyes that gleamed whenever he discovered something. But it was nearly impossible to be afraid of him, as most of the seniors were at least a foot taller.

The bell rang and Scarlet could hear the pounding footsteps of students rushing to class. She ignored the other students who flooded into the classroom, not one to attract attention, but also not the kind of person to be insignificant. For most of her life, Scarlet was just a background character. And she liked it that way. It was better when the other kids ignored her than when they ridiculed and tormented her and called her grandmother crazy. It was just better.

She expected no one to even notice that Cinder wasn't sitting beside her to be her lab partner. And she was partially right. Everyone sat down at their usual spots without a second glance. But when the bell signaling the start of class rang, someone else ran into the room at the very last minute. Wolf, nearly late per usual, was about to take a seat in the back next to one of his buddies when his eyes flickered across the room...right to Scarlet.

Fidgeting under his penetrating stare, Scarlet tried to imagine the thoughts rushing through his head. She could see him wondering why she was alone...then considering going over to sit with her...then thinking about what all his friends would think and the rumors that would fly through the school...She flinched and turned away, consenting to a dreary lab period without her smart friend to rely on.

Scarlet nearly gasped when she heard Wolf's large black backpack thunk down on the table beside her. She looked up at him in confusion, but he avoided her gaze. Around them, she could hear the whispers and barely muffled giggles passed behind the hands of her fellow classmates.

"What are you doing?" she hissed at him. Wolf was calmly unpacking his supplies, immune to the gossip already spreading like the plague. She supposed that he was teased and gossiped about a lot already, owing to his unusual size and notorious reputation. But Scarlet...she hadn't had to deal with this since second grade. _Some things never change, I guess, _she thought bitterly.

"You looked lonely." His response was so simple, so concise, that she got a sense of what the thoughts in his head were like. Logical and formulaic, like artificial intelligence. He had seen Scarlet. She looked lonely. So he decided to sit with her.

"_I_ looked lonely? You're the one who broods and slouches around school all day," she retorted, trying to make it sound like him sitting with her was no big deal.

Wolf frowned. "I have friends."

"You have a gang."

"Same thing."

"Not really."

"Why not?"

She had to think for a moment in order to answer that question. It wasn't like Scarlet had had a lot of friends in her lifetime, so why was she now such an expert on friendship? "Friends help each other. They support each other. They laugh with each other." She was realizing how stupid she sounded. How did she know that Wolf didn't have close relationships with his other gang members?

And more importantly, why was she even talking to him? Scarlet seemed to have two images of Wolf in her mind. One was the way he was now, big and harmless and sometimes clueless about the world around him. But the other...she shivered at the memories of him in the dark alleyway, beating up Cinder. She remembered holding her shotgun to his throat and being absolutely sure that she would fire it if she needed to. She tried to block out that side of him. But it was there, in the same way Scarlet had a vicious side and her grandmother had a crazy side.

Luckily, Wolf didn't look offended. He seemed thoughtful, tipping his head and getting a faraway look in his deep green eyes. "I think I get what you mean. In the gang, it's a constant battle for dominance. There's no such thing as support, only destruction. Everyone wants to be on top. You're not afraid to tear others down if it means that you'll be on top." His voice caught.

"It's okay," Scarlet immediately comforted him. "They're still people you can spend time with. But your real friends, your close friends, those are the ones that have to build you up. And it's okay if you haven't found them yet."

He didn't seem to hear her, still stuck on something she had said earlier. "So does that mean..."

"What?"

Wolf took a deep breath and looked straight into her eyes. "Does that mean you and I are friends?"

"Well, what do we have here?" came a scathing voice from nearby. Scarlet realized that all the whispers and giggly conversations had died out, replaced by silence as a single girl stood up. Levana. Scarlet looked desperately toward Mr. Darnel's office door, but he was apparently preoccupied and not in any position to rescue her now. "Crazy Red and the Big Bad Wolf. What an interesting pair..."

Scarlet rolled her eyes. "First of all, that nickname's gotten old. You came up with that in, what, elementary school?"

Levana narrowed her eyes, all beauty disappearing from her face with that expression of malevolence. "The fact that I can still use it now shows that you're just as crazy as ever."

"She's not crazy," Wolf said softly. His normally deep, husky voice was oddly rough and strained, almost fragile as it pervaded the uncanny silence.

Levana turned to Wolf. "Yeah, in comparison to _you, _I would say that Scarlet is completely normal, druggie."

"And in comparison to you, I would say that the Wicked Witch of the West is kind and sweet," Scarlet snarled. The watching class laughed.

"Oh, Scarlet," Levana sighed, her waves of silky auburn hair as perfect as they had been in kindergarten. Scarlet had a suspicion that Levana's brain had stayed the same through the years, while only her body had matured. "I bet you don't know half of what your _friend _here has done. My father is the commissioner of the police, remember."

"Trust me, I know," Scarlet said through gritted teeth. "Where was your _father _when their gang beat my friend up?"

"Interesting, interesting," Levana muttered, eyes sliding out of focus as she thought. "So you _do _know about what happens out on the streets...your own friend was attacked...and yet you're associating with the gang leader anyway." She smiled like a cat about to pounce on a mouse. "I take it that your friends don't know who you _really _spend time with, Scarlet."

It felt like Levana had fired a bullet into her chest. That was true, Scarlet's friends didn't know that she actually sort of thought of Wolf like a friend. They probably imagined him like everyone else in the school, a scary street fighter with a messed up life. Cinder had taken an instant dislike to him ever since her first day in Commonwealth City when the Wolf Pack had attacked her, and Cress was scared of anyone who was more than twice her weight and height. She couldn't imagine what they would think if she told them that she had started _defending _Wolf in a fight - defended him against Levana, of all people! Her grandmother, too, would be wholeheartedly disappointed in her for getting in trouble for the sake of _him. _

"Whatever, Levana," Scarlet growled. "I'm done with this."

And she scooped up her backpack and stormed out of the classroom.

She hadn't walked twenty paces when she heard the flat thump of Wolf's enormous feet - they were more like paws, actually - hurrying down the hall toward her. "Scarlet!" he called. She chanced a look over her shoulder, and, seeing that he had almost caught up with her, doubled her pace.

"Wait!" He refused to be deterred. Giving up, Scarlet stopped abruptly in her path and turned around. Wolf stopped dead at the sight of her narrowed eyes and clenched fists, temper as fiery as her hair.

"What do you want now?" she snapped. She knew she was being unfair to him, but she was just so exasperated with this situation.

"I..." he blinked, trying to figure out why she was mad. "I wanted to see whether you were okay."

"Oh yes, I'm completely okay. I only just embarrassed myself in front of the whole class, tried and failed to defend you against Levana for _absolutely no reason, _and now there's going to be rumors that we're dating," she responded icily. "Also, everyone hates you, including my friends, and there's just no reason to be friends."

"Who says there has to be a reason?" his voice was so small she barely heard it.

"Leave me alone."


	20. Chapter 20

**Thanks to xXPokePotterIslandXx for their continued support of this story!**

Carswell Thorne was the kind of person whose bedroom was a hyper-organized model of perfection. Every object was neatly shelved and his bed was always made the second he woke up in the morning, not a crease in the comforter. Thorne never slacked on washing his laundry or vacuuming the floor. It wasn't like Thorne enjoyed doing these tasks or anything; it was just the knowledge that he would receive a telling-off if he didn't. When you have a former military general (now a wealthy businessman) for a father and an office secretary for a mother, you learn to get organized real fast. They lived on the idea that anything unnecessary should be thrown away at once. If Thorne dared to leave a single object on his floor, it would be disposed of immediately.

But if you looked closely, you could see all the cracks in the mask of cleanliness and neatness swept over his room: a cluttered pile of objects that had been dumped hurriedly into a drawer without being organized, a stash of food shoved deep into the closet, a couple of dirty shirts he hadn't bothered to wash hidden under the cushions of the mini-sofa. These were Thorne's small ways of rebelling against the constricting rules and regulations his parents set. Of course, one day he hoped to break some of the bigger rules - particularly those concerning his future career. But this was as good a place as any to start.

Thorne, although his grades didn't show it, was very smart. Over time, he had learned that the best way to hide something was to hide it in plain sight. He had taken to slipping comics he wasn't supposed to buy and other pictures he didn't want his parents seeing between the pages of books, as well as hiding an unwashed shirt inside a pile of folded blankets where the extra bulk went unnoticed. So the best way, he decided, to store all the junky items he had accumulated over time was to put them in a drawer where all his other stuff went. It was almost funny how well this worked. Thorne's mother and father routinely inspected his shelves and desk, but they almost never looked in the drawer where he stashed the stuff.

Throughout the years, the drawer stopped being just a storage space for junk that was too nice to throw away but not useful or pretty enough to display on his shelves. Instead, he started hiding things that were more useful.

It all started with the textbook. Since Commonwealth High was a dirty public high school, the textbooks that were passed down every year almost always bore some kind of mark of the students who had used it before. Thorne was particularly pleased with the one he had received; he flicked through it while doing his algebra homework snorting at the rude words and funny images scrawled in the margins. That was until he reached page three hundred and four.

Carefully recorded in ink pen around the dense clumps of words and numbers were descriptions of all sorts of tricks and hacks and tactics for getting what you wanted. Thorne's eyes had widened upon reading the sections detailing how to cheat people out of their money. These were strategies he had been using since he was seven; he had just never seen them described so clearly. Upon scouring the next few pages, he learned even more tricks he had never heard of, covering everything from winning competitions to charming your way out of trouble.

Thorne had stayed up all night to copy everything from the textbook into a notebook he had gotten as a Christmas present and then forgotten about. It was the perfect plan since the notebook fit right in with the rest of his school books and he could slip it in his backpack without anyone noticing. During math class, he continued reading every inch of the pages and scribbling more notes down, while his classmates and teacher thought he was taking notes on the lesson.

And now, three and a half years later, the notebook was chock-full of tactics, ideas, and diagrams that Thorne found very useful for accomplishing some of his schemes. He hadn't copied it all from the textbook. Those notes had been a good place to start, but over time he found himself devising his own tricks and traps. As his plans got wilder and wilder, he started collecting small objects that always seemed to be useful: a bobby pin for picking locks, cheap business cards with fill-in-the-blank spaces he used when selling to neighbors, duct tape, which was always useful, a tin of grease that stopped hinges from squeaking when he was sneaking out of the house in the dead of night, and those were just a few of them.

Not all his schemes were about gaining money or winning prizes, however. Lately, quite a few of them had focused on his game with the ladies.

But first things first. The Commonwealth Autumn Festival was coming up, and Thorne had big plans to bulk up his wallet significantly. He flicked through the most recent scribbled entries in his notebook, featuring a rough map of the festival square with big red stars on the best places to sell, as well as sketches of products he was in the process of creating. He had become much more daring recently with the things he sold, after learning that he could slip his way out of almost any sticky situation - a story involving a pimply teenager named Jules, a tin of face cream, and a cute cheerleader.

**A/N: Reference to Carswell's Guide to Being Lucky in Stars Above (I LOVE that book)**

"Carswell! Breakfast!" he heard his father call irritably from downstairs. Immediately, Thorne thrust the notebook into his backpack and closed the drawer. He raced down the stairs, tightening his belt along the way and hopping up on the banister to slide the last few feet into the entrance hall.

His mother frowned up at him when he entered the kitchen through an arched opening. "What have I told you about sliding on the staircase?"

He shrugged. "It helps get the dust off."

Her lips tightened, but she said nothing more.

Thorne, grinning cockily, checked the clock. "It's only seven-thirty!" he cried in indignation. "Why did you call me down so early?"

"We need to talk to you." His father's face looked like it had been carved from stone when he said the words.

He sighed. He knew what was coming.

"Carswell, dear, we've noticed that your grades are slipping in several subjects," his mother began. She was attempting to look kind and motherly but miserably failing.

"Particularly in math and science," his father interjected, almost sounding bored. He had a right to be. They had had this conversation many times over the years.

"I know," Thorne told them. He perked up his eyebrows to try to look earnest. "I'm getting it figured out."

"Clearly," his father said in a tone that dripped with disbelief. "We've spoken to your teachers."

Thorne spit out his orange juice. "Seriously? Why?" His parents, although always interested in the state of his grades, had never gotten even remotely involved with his teachers.

"Because you always say that you're going to get better and you never do!" his father barked. He leaned across the table, fists clenching. "Boy, I see right through your charm and trickery, even if the neighbors don't."

Thorne sat back in astonishment. Had his father really noticed what he did to earn money?

Continuing to rant, his father went on, "It's a disgrace that any son of mine would use such measures, while I work hard to put food on the table in front of you. I work as a true man! You, son, have grown lazy and pathetic from always using the back door!"

Thorne glared at him. "Why do the measures I use matter, as long as I get results?"

His father looked like he was about to start shouting again, but his mother put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "What your father is trying to say is that we've been thinking it's time for you to work a little harder. Your teachers and we both agree that you should start getting tutored."

That was the final straw. "You can't possibly be serious," Thorne said, shaking his head. "I don't have time to be tutored. And by who? I absolutely refuse to spend any more time with those horrid teachers."

"We were considering you ask a fellow student to tutor you," his mother pressed on with a nervous smile.

"Like who?" he asked incredulously.

"Any of your friends," his father scowled. "They're all smarter than you."

"I'm delighted that you think so much of me," Thorne said, pretending to blush. He stood up, leaving his breakfast almost untouched. "I'm done with this conversation. See you later."

He was about to turn away toward the door when he heard his father say, "I'd shape up if I were you. Carswell, if your grades don't rise much more over the next few weeks, you are most certainly not doing the play."

* * *

"Of all the crappy days to come back to school," Cinder muttered from next to Scarlet, who had just informed her that the roles in the play were going to be announced today. Both girls eyes a pack of girls darkly, who were giggling and skipping along as they speculated who would get what part.

"I'm really not in the mood for this," Cinder sighed. "I have no inclination whatsoever to be in the play anymore. Not without Peony." At the last word, her voice hitched a little, and Scarlet could tell she was still struggling to cope with her sister's sudden illness, despite the mask of strength she put on against the stares of other students.

"You're not the only one," Scarlet said bitterly. Her mind, as it now often did when she didn't have anything else to think about, conjured an image of Wolf in her mind. The way he had looked chasing after her into the hallway, green eyes confused and injured, bulky silhouette dark in the midday sunshine. She growled in frustration. Luckily, Cinder thought she was still thinking about the play and didn't question it.

She smiled wryly as she remembered the look on her grandmother's face when her red motorcycle had zoomed down the drive, cutting class in the middle of the day. Normally, Grand-mere didn't tolerate that sort of behavior and would have yanked her right back to school, but she seemed to sense that something was off with Scarlet. She had settled her down in the kitchen with a plate of her favorite lemon cake and allowed her to lie on the couch all afternoon instead of working all over the farm like she normally did when she was at home.

It had been a few days since then, and Scarlet hadn't spoken to Wolf. He seemed to be hanging around in his old circles again, the shifty-looking kids who skulked in back alleyways after school. Once, their eyes had caught from across the hallway during passing period. He had looked like he wanted to talk to her, but Scarlet had promptly turned around and ran the other way down the hallway, to the surprise and confusion of Cress and Winter.

She didn't know exactly why she was avoiding him. After all, she was the one who had blown him off, so she should probably go to apologize. But she didn't want to. Scarlet was done being made fun of by Levana, and her friendship with Wolf was just another thing that could be used against her.

Not to mention, she had other friends and other concerns at the moment. She was still worried about Cinder, who was obviously not fine despite the fact that she insisted she was okay. And Scarlet also had to start thinking about her college application and first-quarter exams...She was not in the position to deal with more drama now.

* * *

Thorne enjoyed the attention he received as he strutted lazily down the hallways. Everyone, not just the theater kids, seemed to know that it was the day they would get their roles in the play. Girls clutched each other and whispered excitedly as he passed, and a few nearly experienced internal combustion when he winked at them. He was excited, expecting to get a lead role for the fourth year running. There was almost no way he wouldn't. Since there were many more girls than boys who did the play, usually Thorne's only competition for the male lead was Kai. Of course, Kai was a big-shot television actor and all that, but Thorne - in his humble opinion - was the better singer.

The morning dragged on and on with a seemingly endless stream of boring class lectures. Thorne found himself almost dozing off several times, chin in hand. He only woke up when a girl sitting behind him, Aurora, tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around in his chair to give her a flirtatious week and say, in a low, seductive voice, "Thank you." This was one of the tactics he had developed in his notebook, particularly useful when one is single and very handsome. By making it clear that you appreciate their help but not establishing the idea that you owe them for anything, they will continue to help you while you don't have to do anything. And even if the girl did realize that Thorne was using them, she would be too enraptured by his shockingly good looks to think straight.

He knew that this was a little bit manipulative, but technically, all he was doing was letting them help him. It definitely wasn't hurting the girl in any way: girls were practically falling over themselves to catch his attention. Like he had told his father, Thorne believed that the ends justified the means.

He hadn't forgotten about his father's warning, but he wasn't worried. Thorne was sure he would be able to charm some smart girl into tutoring him. He smiled at the memory of Kate Fallow, who had tutored him at his old middle school. It was such a shame that all the desirable ones were never smart. Kate was nice, but definitely not a winner in the looks department.

Finally, it was lunchtime. Thorne sat with his normal crew, and while he sat patiently, the looks he exchanged with Kai showed that he wasn't the only one itching to leave. Levana, sitting nearly on Kai's lap as usual, didn't seem in any hurry. Thorne guessed that she was confident she had gotten the lead. He would never say it to her, but he wasn't so sure. There had been more talent than usual at tryouts this year. Cinder was quite good, as was the cute little blonde that he could never remember the name of.

Thorne sat straight up in his chair as a new idea occurred to him. Someone had told him that the little blond girl - Cass, or something like that - was a genius. And he dimly remembered the awards ceremony last year, where Principal Rikan called her name, again and again, to give her awards for nearly every subject - the STEM Fair, the Matholympics, the story contest, and tons more stuff he couldn't remember. Judging from how she had reacted when he caught her singing in the bathroom, she was smitten with him and would be over the moon when he asked her to tutor him. He smiled in satisfaction. It was the perfect plan.

After what felt like an era, the bell rang across the cafeteria. Kai caught his eye and they both stood up, Thorne with his chin held high and Kai with shaking legs. He was always surprised at how nervous Kai got before things like this, as he was the professional actor. Kai had explained to him that when you were a professional, it mattered a lot more because you actually got money for the job. He had also said that as a teenage actor, he had to constantly be booking jobs so that his parents let him keep acting. Still, Thorne would love to have that opportunity and live the glamorous Hollywood life, regardless of stress.

Across the cafeteria, Thorne saw Cinder and her friends standing up to go check out the list of roles that would be taped outside the auditorium. Seeing her, he remembered that he had forgotten to give her his condolences about her sister. He was about to walk over to her, as he was the kind of person who never missed the chance to show how kind and considerate he was, but Kai tapped his arm.

"Let's go. It's time."

**If you like this story, please leave a review! Constructive criticism is always appreciated!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Thanks for the reviews!**

Scarlet was getting exasperated with all this play business. She truly regretted getting caught up in the mess. On the day of the tryouts, she should have stood up in that woman's face and made Ms. Hope listen to her. That's what her grandmother, the toughest woman she knew, would have done. She had been bored out of her mind all through lunch listening to Cress and Winter speculate about who would get what part and what the plot of the play would be.

At least Cinder seemed to be in the same boat as her. Well, Scarlet couldn't tell if Cinder didn't want to talk about the play or if she didn't want to talk, period. Her friend had been quiet all morning, and Scarlet didn't blame her. She had never had a sibling, but she could imagine what it would feel like to not know if a beloved family member would ever come home.

Then again...Scarlet could think of _one _family member who she wouldn't mind if they didn't survive.

Her father, that cowardly, untrustworthy, sneaky idiot who didn't have two pennies to rub together deserved everything that happened to him. Everything.

Pushing that thought aside, she concentrated on following Cress and Winter down the hall, with Cinder on her heels. They were going to see the list of parts that had been posted near the auditorium by the director.

Looking around, Scarlet noticed Winter's friend Jacin lurking behind them. Wherever the girls went, he always seemed to be there too, regardless of the fact that she wouldn't consider him a friend. Scarlet had asked him to trust her, but he continued to act constantly overprotective of Winter. _That's going to get them into trouble one day._

She also noticed an older girl gliding across the entrance hall of the school to where Kai, Thorne, Levana and their friends walked just ahead of Scarlet's group. It was Channary Blackburn, Levana's older sister. Someone had told Scarlet that even though she didn't attend the school anymore, she helped organize the musical every year and even got a small part. Scarlet glared at her designer clothes and expensive purse, her perfect nails and hair. Must be nice, she thought bitterly,_ to not have to work your butt off all the time and still make bucketloads of money. _Scarlet thought partly of herself, but most of her grandmother. Michelle Benoit had served in the airforce for years, the youngest wing commander in years, and she made enough money to retire peacefully without a worry. But she had denied the life of luxury and instead chosen to open up her own farm, working day and night to supply the best produce in the state.

Scarlet had always been proud of herself for being tough and hardworking just like her grandmother. She was independent, not needing to rely on any friends. She was smart - almost always top of her class. And her grandmother - a single mom - had raised her to believe that you didn't need boys.

But now, with all that had been happening lately - storming out of class, getting into fights, swept up in all sorts of drama with a certain boy, unloading some of her farm work onto her grandmother so that she could be in the _school musical_ \- she just wasn't sure that she was the same person anymore.

* * *

Cinder had been quiet all morning. But she went full Invisible Girl mode when she saw Kai in the hallway during lunch. She hated being back at school. Everyone had seen the article in the news about Peony and everyone was reacting differently. Most people eyed her when she passed them in the hallways, pointing and whispering with friends. The nerdy kids came right up to her and tactlessly started asking all sorts of questions about Peony's sudden illness, using medical mumbo jumbo and fancy lingo. But worst of all was the fake-sympathetic people: they flocked her the second the saw her and gave their simpering condolences, pretending to be all sad and empathetic. Cinder knew for a fact that none of them would have paid her the slightest bit of attention if her family hadn't been in the newspaper.

But Kai was a different story. She wanted him to talk to her. She wanted him to treat her as more than a random girl he was faintly acquainted with, even though the sensible side of her brain screamed at her to stop. Cinder had always been the practical, sensible girl who didn't have a million crushes like all the other girls. What was happening to her?

Still, the fact that he had barely looked at her since she had come back to school still hurt.

Shrinking back behind Scarlet and Jacin as they neared the auditorium, Cinder tugged her gloves farther over her hands (a nervous habit). She was suddenly worried about the play, a topic she had forced her mind off of for the entire week Peony had been in the hospital. What if she wasn't allowed to wear her gloves in the play? She shuddered at the thought of the director forcing off her gloves and boots and revealing her freakish prosthetics. _Relax, Cinder. You're getting ahead of yourself._

Either way, Cinder found she wasn't as excited about the prospect of doing the musical as she had originally been. During the period of indecisiveness when she had been debating whether or not to do it, Kai's innocent, earnest face had popped into her head every time she had almost decided to just forget about it. That, coupled with Peony's urging and Pearl's snide remarks about what a terrible actress she was had been enough to tip the scales. But now, with Peony in the hospital, Adri and Pearl accusations, and Kai's sudden coldness made her doubt the decision.

A sudden hush came from the front of the groups of kids making their way toward the auditorium. _They must be looking at the list._

Cinder, tall and gangly, could just barely see the simple piece of paper printed with the names of the students and what part they had. However, people in front of her kept shifting and it was nearly impossible to read through all the chaos. Cress was having a much harder time. She was so tiny she barely came up to most of the kids' shoulders and she had no hope of being able to see over them.

"Here, let's just wait over here," Scarlet shepherded them into the back corner to wait.

As the crowds cleared out, Cinder and her friends pressed in slowly. All the popular boys were hooting and slapping each other on the backs, while their girlfriends squealed and twined their arms around each other. Cinder watched Kai's back recede down the hall, Levana'a pale arm around him protectively. At the last second, when their group was about to turn the corner, she shot a glare over her shoulder as if she could feel Cinder watching her.

_He's mine, _those narrow, fathomless eyes seemed to say.

Cinder swallowed and turned back to her real friends.

* * *

Scarlet and her friends were in plain view of Wolf, skulking near the back of the hallway. She ignored him, the way she had done since their...whatever it had been. Fight? Disagreement? Interaction?

She was standing a little bit back from the others, looking on as the other kids in the play finished reading the list of parts, some reacting with surprise, others with excitement, others with disgust and fury. Scarlet looked around at her friends. Cress was staring dreamily into space, eyes closed as though imagining herself in costume onstage. Cinder, a few feet away, was staring after the vanishing backs of the popular kids. Namely, at one specific black-haired person. And Winter was flouncing around talking to everyone joyfully, head raised and curls spilling down her back like a true princess. Every few seconds, she shot a glance at the glowering blond figure next to Scarlet, as if wanting him to notice her.

Chancing a glance at Wolf, she found his intensely green eyes on her once again. He didn't look away, holding her gaze in a deep, thoughtful sort of way.

She sighed. They were all caught up in problems that would be more trouble than they were worth.

Cress nudged her. "Let's go look," the shorter girl urged, pointing forward to where the crowd was dispersing. She was still practically hopping up and down with excitement. Scarlet plowed forward to clear a path for her friends, jaw set grimly. She could not care less about what part she got but figured she might as well get it over with. Fully expecting to see her name at the bottom of the list with all the characters who had like one line, she looked at the list and gave a start upon seeing her name close to the top.

SCARLET BENOIT - RED RIDING HOOD

Stomach turning over unpleasantly, she scanned the lines around her name.

ZE'EV KESLEY - BIG BAD WOLF

KAITO LEE - PRINCE CHARMING

CINDERELLA - LEVANA BLACKBURN

JACIN CLAY - PRINCE #2

WINTER HAYLE - SNOW WHITE

CARSWELL THORNE - PRINCE #3

CRESCENT MOON DARNEL - RAPUNZEL

Levana's taunting voice echoed in her head. _Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. _What did that girl have against her? Scarlet would've bet anything that Levana had influenced the director into choosing them for some of the lead parts. There was no way they were that good.

Scarlet broke into Cress and Winter's excited squealfest with a dark scowl. "You have got to be kidding me." Eyes narrowed in fury, Scarlet gestured toward the list.

Cress beamed. "It's wonderful! All three of us have lead parts!"

"It is most certainly not!" Scarlet snapped, causing Cress to shrink back a little. "You guys know! I never signed up for this! I don't want to do this!"

" 'Least you've got a part," came a voice from behind her. Scarlet whipped around to see Cinder fidgeting with her gloves, beneath which she knew there were metal and wires instead of flesh and bone. Suddenly deflating, Scarlet looked at the list again. She scanned the entire list, having to read all the way to the bottom before she saw Cinder's name - exactly where she had expected her own to be.

SELENE LINH - PALACE SERVANT #5, CINDERELLA UNDERSTUDY

Cinder shrugged when she saw her friends' sympathetic gazes. "I should've expected it. I'm terrible." She tried to make her voice sound nonchalant, but Scarlet knew her well enough to detect an undercurrent of bitterness.

Scarlet was furious now. "Cinder, that was supposed to be me!" she cried. "Trust me, I would switch in a heartbeat. You're way better than I am! I bet you anything Levana's behind this, she has a lot of influence over the director." Her brain was churning as the gears clicked slowly into place. "This is the perfect plan - you have a super small part that you're way too good for, she gets to watch me _miserably fail _to handle my lead role, she can tease you about not being any good, and she can tease _me _about the Wolf thing-"

"What Wolf thing?" Cinder asked curiously. She glanced at the list again. "And what kind of name is Ze'ev? That's even worse than Selene."

"Of course his name can't be Wolf," said Scarlet, pretending that she had already known that, when it fact his name was news to her too. She attempted to tactfully avoid the first question. "But that's beside the point-"

"I'm afraid," Winter broke in, in her usual mystical, dreamy voice, "that Levana's plan failed in a very significant way."

"How?" the other three asked. Jacin was smirking, seeming to know what Winter was going to say. Sometimes it felt like those two had a telepathic connection.

Winter waved an elegant hand behind them. "Ms. Hope cast you as the Cinderella understudy, Cinder."

"So?" snapped Cinder. "All it means to me is that I have to do extra work to learn a part I won't even play."

Winter cast a significant look at Jacin, as though amused that the rest of them were so slow. "It means," she said airily, "You'll be practicing with Kai."

* * *

Thorne fumed all the way down the hallway to his fifth period English class. His friends hadn't even noticed how angry he had been throughout the rest of lunch, too focused on the fabulous parts they had gotten in the play as well as relaying every detail of their _stunning _and _wonderful _lives. _Am I the only one not living a fairy tale? _Thorne thought angrily, yanking open the classroom door a little harder than necessary. He was the only one who wasn't spoiled silly by parents, he had to _work _for everything he earned - a foreign concept, he assumed, to most of those brawny jocks and airheaded cheerleaders.

Prince #3. Seriously. Prince #3. He had already flicked through a draft of the script and seen that _Prince #3 _had a measly twenty or so lines and even less solo singing. Ms. Hope had given the script to him secretly - after all, he was her favorite student. Well, that's what he had thought. Now Thorne realized that he was her temporary star, able to be flicked aside without a backward glance the second someone better showed up.

_But they're not better than me! _his mind continued to rage. The injustice of it all! Thorne, star or at the very least co-star in every musical for the past three years, now relegated to _Prince #3_! Heck, he would've been fine with Prince #2 or the Big Bad Wolf - of course, he had been aiming for the lead Prince Charming, but there was no hope of that now that Kai had been given the role. But Prince #3 was a whole other story. He had also noticed, during his perusals of the script, that he was to be part of a love story - minor to the plot - in which the female part was played by who he thought of as the Opera Bathroom Girl - Cress, was that her name? Getting her as a tutor was one thing, but having to play her lover was quite another. It was no problem acting out a romance when you had a hot girl in your arms, but Opera Bathroom Girl was about five feet tall and quite plain-looking, with hair that was always tangled and messy and a million freckles on her nose.

Thorne sighed dramatically, hoping someone would notice his sorrowful state as he swept into the classroom (no one did). He had no problem losing to Kai, but being bested by total losers was simply humiliating. He supposed the director had gone on looks alone for the other male leads, considering that the boy he thought of as Wolf Man because of his muscular build was playing - surprise, surprise! - the Big Bad Wolf. Judging from his audition, the guy had never taken a singing lesson in his life... The other one, Jacin Clay, was actually semi-handsome and Thorne could definitely see him playing the part of a prince - though certainly not better than himself!

_There's only one thing to do, _Thorne decided. He would take the matter directly to Ms. Hope. Surely it was a fluke or something. He would clear it all up. And if that didn't work... Well, he had more than a few tricks up his sleeve.

* * *

After school was over, Thorne cut across the school through the main courtyard to the auditorium, next to which Ms. Hope had an office. He assumed that she would be in there getting ready for the first day of practice tomorrow. Upon arriving in that hallway, he noticed a familiar figure pacing up and down a few feet away, anxiously twisting her hair in her hands and tapping her phone. She startled like a scared cat when he strolled up to her.

"Good day, fair lady," he said with a winning smile. Thorne remembered that he was going to ask her to tutor him and decided to act nicer than usual. "Something wrong?"

She was blushing so hard her entire face and neck were turning pinkish. "No - I - uh, my dad wanted me to run to the supermarket, but I didn't bring my car, and I was trying to find a ride, but all of my friends left already-"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down." He smiled again comfortingly. "You really expected a kind soul like me wouldn't stumble upon you and offer you a ride? I mean, it's my duty as a civilized gentleman."

Her nervousness seemed to melt right off her. Cress smiled shyly back, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "Thank you."

"As a matter of fact, I've been wanting a word with you." Thorne decided to spring the question now while she was feeling grateful to him. "I've been struggling a lot in some subjects lately, and I was wondering if you would like to tutor me? Since I know you're so smart and all," he added as an afterthought, laying on the flattery. There was no way in hell she could refuse this. It had been years since he hadn't been able to charm a girl into getting what he wanted.

She beamed and opened her mouth to accept graciously, but they were interrupted by Ms. Hope's office door opening. "Well?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at Thorne. "I don't have all day, you know."

Thorne gave Cress a wait-here-for-me look and entered her office, which was decorated as usual in posters from musicals and plays Ms. Hope had attended, only they were from different shows than last year.

He was about to launch into a spiel that he had been rehearsing during his mind-numbingly boring history class, but Ms. Hope knew him to well and anticipated the words. "I take it this is about your part in the play?"

Thorne blinked. "Uh, yeah. Director, I just wanted to say-"

She looked him square in the eyes. "You get what you get and you don't get upset. You should know that better than anyone, Carswell."

The use of his first name irritated him even more. "But I don't even have a solo! It's my last year at Commonwealth, I wanted to maybe have a big role-"

Ms. Hope had turned away from him now, casually shuffling a stack of papers on her desk. "You've had a lead role every year since you were a freshman. It's time to give some other people a chance. Jacin and Wolf-"

"Have no talent!" Thorne blurted out before he could stop himself.

"Are very nice boys who deserve a chance," she corrected, raising her voice. "Honestly, I expected better than this from you, Carswell."

Thorne stared at her, thinking. He changed tactics in a blink. "Director, I was also here to raise some concerns about Wolf Man - er, Ze'ev."

She raised her eyebrows in a "go on" sort of way.

"It's just that - he gets into a lot of fights, you know. He's part of a gang, one of those fighter groups on the streets - I'm sure he does drugs and smokes, Ms. Hope. He's on the football team with me - a very nasty temper, he has. Last year he hit a boy on the opposing team after we lost - he could do it again! And I heard a rumor that he abducted Cinder, you know, Selene Linh -"

But Ms. Hope had lifted a hand to stop him. "I appreciate this information, Carswell, but it does not change my casting decisions the slightest."

He could hardly believe his ears. Would he be shoved from the coveted position of the director's favorite student to the low-ranking Prince #3? "But-"

"That is enough!" Ms. Hope, though, quite a small woman, could transform into an intimidating figure in the blink of an eye. "I have never seen such atrocious actions from a student! You would do well with learning some sportsmanship! Now, if you don't get out and stop complaining, I will cut you from the play!"

Heart in his throat, Thorne emerged from the office shocked and stomach churning like he might be sick. Now that was two people threatening to cut him from the play. That row was nothing, though, compared to Cress's reaction.

Her lips were pressed together very tightly and her hands were wound in piles of hair once again. "I heard that," she whispered, barely making a sound in the silent corridor.

He tried again for an easy grin, though it felt like his jaw was locked in place. "Yeah, I just-"

But Cress, so much like Ms. Hope, transformed before her eyes. "You're despicable!" she cried, fists clenching and bunching up her hair. "I can't believe you! You'll do anything to get ahead of other people, won't you." Her eyes were filled with so much disgust that he shrank back a little. "I don't trust Wolf any more than you do, but it's just plain cruel to try to take this opportunity away from him. Cruel."

"Cress-"

"And what about me! I supposed you didn't want to play the suitor of a girl - a-a girl like me!" Now she was shaking, and she looked on the verge of tears. "I'm too short and ugly for you, I suppose!" Thorne tried to defend himself but fell silent as he remembered those had been the exact thoughts running through his head a while before.

"You know..." Cress was shivering and hugging herself, hair limp and bedraggled from all the fidgeting. She was a shell of the confident self she had been in the bathroom, but Thorne could see her determination burning through. "I really don't think I should tutor you after all."

Thorne stood there dumbstruck. This had to be a bad dream... It was the Kate Fallow incident all over again.

Flouncing angrily past him, Cress flew to the end of the hallway, fists still clenched. Thorne stared after her.

"Don't you need a ride?" he asked feebly. It was some five miles or so to the nearest supermarket.

"I'm perfectly fine, thank you very much."

And he stared after her listening to the cold echoes of a voice that had been so warm and enthused toward him earlier.

**Wow...that turned out really long. I was going to make it two chapters but didn't want to make you guys wait any longer. Hope you liked it!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Thank you so much for all the support on this story! It really means a lot to me since I wasn't expecting to get this many reviews. You guys make me smile every time I see all the positive feedback!**

Winter glided around her bedroom, waltzing with an imaginary prince in a beautiful dress. In her mind's eye, she could see the whole scene: the simple but beautiful white gown she was wearing, her hair left in natural, loose curls, a bright full moon gleaming through the dark windows of the menagerie - yes, that was where she imagined the romantic scene taking place - after all, it was her favorite place in Commonwealth. Everything was gorgeous and perfect but the one thing Winter couldn't keep her eyes off was the man in her arms. Sharp jawline accentuating lips quirking in that familiar amused smile. Long-lashed blue eyes that twinkled when he laughed. Pale blond hair that glowed with an icy light as it caught the moonlight, making Winter's skin and hair seem darker than night in comparison.

That was who they were. The Princess and the Guard. Night and Day. Winter and Summer. Insane and Sane. Mischievous and Loyal. Winter, trapped by the darkness within, Jacin's light the only thing keeping her in this world.

She sighed. _Jacin. _Beautiful, smart, insufferably loyal Jacin. Why did the universe have to be so unfair? Giving her the friendship of the most loyal, kind, smart boy alive, but not letting her have anything more than that. Winter had thought, a while back, that their close friendship might finally be developing into something more. Good friends, however close, didn't just move to a whole other city to stay with their friend. Jacin did. Your friends didn't spend every waking moment with you. Jacin did. Your friends will try to put up with every bit of crap and craziness you throw at them but eventually, they won't be able to take it. Jacin never lost patience with her for a second. All these, Winter had seen as signs.

But those had been false pretenses. Winter had accepted by now that Jacin had never seen her as any more than a beloved friend he had to protect and help through her attacks. Nothing more, nothing less.

Still, Winter would never deny Jacin's loyalty to her for a second. She still remembered that day after the murder of her brother, Evret Hayle. Winter had been in that period that comes after a great tragedy where you don't know what to feel or think or do. You can't do anything. You're just numb. For Winter, it was even worse because of her condition. She got trapped in her mind enough on a regular day, it was even worse when all she could see behind the blackness of her closed eyelids were images of blood and tragedy and more blood and loneliness and hopelessness and her brain was screaming _EvretEvretEvret! _Nothing could compare to that type of pain. It had been hard enough to lose her parents, and now her brother was gone too.

Then Levana had come to her, found her crying in the room the social worker had left her in. Winter had never thought much of Levana. She was nice in front of Winter, but she heard the couple having screaming fights behind locked doors. But the second Evret was gone, she and her sister swooped in like Cinderella's fairy godmother, kind and sweet once again, and offered to take up temporary guardianship of Winter. "Just until they can find a better place for you," they had reassured her. "We're moving to Commonwealth City!" "We're going to take our acting and modeling careers to the next level, you'll be living with superstars!" Winter hadn't been sure what to do. This was a better offer than the prospect of living in an orphanage the social worker had told her about, but she didn't know Levana and Channary very well. And Jacin...she couldn't leave him. But then she had thought of Evret. Regardless of their fights, she was sure that her big brother had loved Levana - even though he had never told her so - and she guessed that he would've wanted Winter to stay with Levana.

The second she broke the news tentatively to Jacin, he had leaped up and started pacing around the room. Winter could see the gears churning in his brain. He wanted to stay with her. But she needed to go. The only option was for him to go too.

Jacin was only two years older than Winter - he was the same age as Levana - but he was so smart he had already taken his SATs and been accepted into several colleges. For him to give up his dreams to stay with her was so heart-breakingly loyal and kind of him. Winter had spent weeks trying to convince him not to go, to stay in Artemisia and pursue his dream of becoming a doctor, but it was no good. In fact, it was hard to say who could be more stubborn, Winter or Jacin. But somehow, Jacin had ended up in Commonwealth with her, renting his own apartment, attending a dirty public high school much below the level of prestigious education he was used to. At first, Winter had tried to distance herself from him, thinking that if she pushed him out of her life he would go back. However, when the nightmares and visions started coming, and Levana got less nice, she realized that she really did need him.

Winter shuddered. Those past few years were an expanse of time she did not want to think about ever again. Visions raced through her head. _Levana and a knife and the mean teachers and nightmares and blood dripping down the walls -_

The door banged open just as she shut those images out of her head. "Winter!" a voice snapped. She looked up dutifully, still standing in the middle of the room after the imaginary waltz with an imaginary Jacin. Levana's sharp black eyes looked back at her, not a hint of emotion in them. Winter noticed that her long auburn hair was set in ringlets and her makeup was done even though they were at home. Lipstick glossed her lips in a bloodred color and blush gave her normally pale cheeks a hint of color. It was funny how much a makeover could change a person. The normal Levana, although beautiful, came across stiff and cold to Winter, with her sharp face and dark, empty eyes. Now, in a shimmery turquoise dress and a made-up face hiding the flaws Winter knew were under the mask, Levana was almost kind. Even welcoming.

"It's all about the looks," Winter remembered Levana telling her back when Evret was still alive. Winter had been eleven, maybe twelve. The older girl had caressed her face with a soft white hand. "Now, you, little girl, have been blessed with natural beauty, but not everyone is. And in an appearance-based society, sometimes you have to make _changes _in order to get the right _results._" Winter hadn't understood what that meant back then, but she thought she did now.

"I'm having a party - celebrating the theater program starting, of course - and you will stay in here." Levana tilted her head up gracefully as she told her this, giving the impression of a queen ordering her subjects around. "You are not allowed to come out. Do not bother my guests. Do not talk to anyone. Just be the good little girl I know you are." She seemed to sneer at the last words, making Winter shiver. Levana had been harsher when talking to her lately. Winter guessed that she was taking out her anger about something on Winter, although she wasn't sure what. Boyfriend troubles? She considered for a moment. The last time Kai had come over, he had looked more anxious and less sure than usual. Yes, that was probably it.

Winter slumped back onto her bed as she heard Levana scrape a key in the lock. Time for another night of boredom.

Only a year ago, she had been allowed to mingle among the guests at Levana's parties, on the conditions that she never made a scene and didn't drink any of the alcohol. The first time she had dared to emerge from her bedroom, nervously walking through the crowds of people, heads had turned. Winter had assumed it was because she was younger and not familiar to them. But later on, sitting quietly at a table in the midst of the people, she had definitely seen several people turn to stare and then snap their heads back when they realized she was watching. A lot of boys, in particular, stared at her, their eyes scanning her face and coming to rest on her body. Winter had shivered and left the party, keeping these chilling moments to herself even when Jacin asked what was wrong the next day.

It got worse as she got older. Immersed in polite conversation one day, Winter had turned when someone tapped her on the shoulder. It had been a boy she faintly recognized as one of the boys on the football team, and she had reluctantly allowed him to lead her into a quiet hallway. He proceeded to flirt with her until Winter managed to slip away by telling him she had to go to the bathroom. This happened several times over the course of a few months, each experience leaving Winter nervous and uncomfortable. One day Winter was wearing a new dress and she decided to put on a little makeup and do her hair to be a little dressier. Back then, she wanted Levana to approve of her. The effect was instantaneous. Boys openly stared at her and girls glared at her in envy. Strangest of all was Levana, who dropped a fancy wineglass on the floor, whether in shock or fury, Winter wasn't sure. Levana could no longer pretend she didn't exist and proceeded to introduce Winter to everyone through gritted teeth.

Winter had never gone to another party again.

It was enough to have to deal with boys' stares and Levana's glares at school, she didn't want to endure them if she didn't have to. Winter knew that she was pretty and she liked it, but in the end, it didn't matter or help her much in life.

Every comment over the years, jealous or admiring, judgemental or complimentary, had an impact. Other people would forget. But Winter didn't. Every glare from Levana. Every laugh at the strange way she talked or her odd antics. At some point, when coupled with the haunting memories of Evret and her parents, it got to be too much.

First the nightmares.

Then the visions had started.

It was a wonder that she hadn't shattered yet. _I might be a girl, but I am the girl of ice and snow, and I am ready to_ shatter. Jacin would only be able to hold her together for so long. Every vision she had seemed to break her down even farther, eroding the small bit of her mind that hadn't already succumbed to the darkness.

Winter was still standing stiff in the middle of the room. She hadn't moved a muscle since Levana had left. The walls, painted pale blue - Winter's favorite color - blurred and spun. Light glinted off decorative crystals hanging from the ceiling that stabbed into her eyes and glittered confusingly around the room. Everything was twisting and changing in ways it shouldn't and the world was turning upside down -

Winter tried to open her mouth to scream. Tried to move away from the walls that were closing in on her, trapping her in her palace. Levana's palace. Evret and Winter had gotten everything when Levana and Evret started dating. Beautiful presents and expensive gifts. But to Winter, this new house was nothing more than a prison.

_I am frozen. I am ice. I am cold, so, so cold. _She couldn't move and was forced to stand there, immobilized, as the walls crashed down around her and the crystals shattered -

_It's all in your head. _

Her eyes shut tight, a layer of frost now creeping up her face. The walls would start bleeding at any moment. She could not stand to look any longer. Winter heard Jacin's voice in her head, comforting her the way he did whenever this happened. _It's all in your head. It's all in your head. _

"It's all right, princess."

The frost thawed. Winter's body unfroze, and she collapsed into the shadow now making his way into the room. His arms were warm and strong as he scooped up her crumpled form, holding her tight to keep the bleeding, stabbing ice away.

"Jacin," she breathed, looping her arms around his neck to get even closer, to lose herself in his comforting presence. "I thought I was alone."

"You'll never be alone," she heard him murmur back, now gliding over to her bed and laying her down gently. "I'll always be here for you." Everything was normal again. Winter was unfrozen, and the walls were just walls. Jacin being there, filling the room with his comfort and care, caused Winter's chest to warm with a glowing feeling. Her eyes drooped closed and a sense of content tingled through her body as Jacin settled down next to her, tucking her safely into his arms.

And because Winter was feeling happier and more confident than ever, the way she did whenever Jacin was around, caused her to say one last sentence before they ebbed into sleep. "I love you, Jacin."

He didn't hesitate with his response. "I love you too, Winter." And her heart soared, filling her whole body with ecstasy and lightness that burned away the last of the frost. Those were the very words she had been waiting for for years.

But in the small part of Winter's mind that wasn't crazy, she knew that Jacin was back in his apartment a mile away, safe at home with no idea what Winter was going through. The vision of Jacin faded away and she was left lying there in a cold bed with no one to tell her that they loved her.

_It's all in my head. _


	23. Chapter 23

Scarlet hadn't been expecting much from the school musical.

After their first practice, she was sure that it was going to be an absolute disaster.

That morning, Scarlet and her friends had been discussing the prospect of play practice, and none of them had seemed very excited. Cinder was her normal grumpy morning mood, although that was probably as much about Peony as having to get out of bed at seven o'clock. Cress, after her big blowup with her crush - she hadn't told them about it, but Scarlet could tell - had withdrawn into her shell even more. Cress hadn't told them exactly what had happened, but Scarlet found she didn't really want to know what an arrogant popular boy could have done to make a perfectly sensible girl turn into this silent shadow. Winter, too, was unusually quiet and stayed inexplicably close to Jacin. This left Scarlet to awkwardly mediate the conversation, gently nudging her friends into talking. What she gathered from the array of long pauses and muttered, one-word responses was this: none of them were the slightest bit excited either.

"Come on! You get to practice with Kai! He's your friend, Cinder!" Scarlet half-yelled, trying to get Cinder to express her opinion on the play. The noise attracted a bit of curious staring from nearby kids. All Cinder did, however, was shrug and mumble something along the lines of, "He doesn't even like me anymore and I'm not a good actress."

_They could do with some more backbone, _Scarlet thought exasperatedly as she made her way to her first-period class. Scarlet wasn't looking forward to making a fool of herself in the play, but her confidence and don't-care-what-they-say attitude bolstered her. _If they didn't care so much about what their crushes thought about them, they would be fine! Well, Cinder probably wouldn't, because of Peony, but she's still just so insecure!_

Her friends might not realize, but Scarlet noticed everything about them. Nothing passed under her sharp eyes. She saw the way Cinder tugged her gloves higher to hide her prosthetic hand when Kai was around. She saw the way Cress tried to straighten her constantly tangled hair and wore thick-soled boots to look taller when she was giving a presentation in class. Winter was the only one who had some sense of self-pride, but that was probably because she was so unaware of her surroundings that she wouldn't even notice if people were staring at her. (And anyway, Winter had about as perfect of a face and body as you could get). _They're never going to make it in this judgemental society if they stay like that, _she thought grimly.

But when it was time to enter the auditorium, Scarlet became as pale and nervous as her friends. Because she had just remembered who she would be working with, upon seeing his hulking figure silhouetted in the spotlight on the stage.

Wolf.

* * *

"Er...try it again," Ms. Hope's voice boomed out again from the megaphone she used to direct everyone from where she was sitting in the audience.

Scarlet cleared her throat. Biting her lip and trying not to look at Wolf standing next to her, who looked half-amused, half-sympathetic, she croaked out "Goodbye, Mother! I am off to see Grandmother!"

Dead silence followed her line, punctuated only by some quickly stifled giggles from the corner where Levana and her friends were standing. Scarlet was sure her face was as red as her hair. This was how the whole rehearsal had gone so far. All the other kids would say their lines and sing their solos to general approval by the rest of the cast watching and the director. Then Scarlet would say something, and...well, you could probably guess.

The most infuriating part of it was Wolf. Ms. Hope had already exclaimed several times about his amazing natural talent, deep baritone voice, and who knew what else. Scarlet had to admit, he was a natural on stage. It was like he became a whole different person out there in the spotlight, not the boy who beat kids up in alleys, nor the boy who used to laugh and whisper with her in class. But neither of them had forgotten about Scarlet's outburst a week prior, and their many interactions were stiff and awkward. The lack of relationship didn't help Scarlet's already-terrible acting ability, and she seemed to get even worse every time she had to address Wolf.

_At least you have a part,_ she reminded herself ruefully. She glanced into the wings to see Cinder, Palace Servant #5, sitting on a crate looking immensely bored and idly twirling a wrench over her fingers. _Although Cinder's really not missing much. _

Scarlet snapped back to attention at Ms. Hope's voice. "Try to make it sound more natural. You're too stiff, just relax." The director was trying to be nice, but there was an undertone of impatience in her voice. Wolf gave her what he probably thought was a you-can-do-this smile, but it looked more like a smirk.

She sighed and did the take again.

And again.

And again.

By the end of rehearsal, Scarlet hadn't improved one bit and the only thing they had managed to do was get her annoyed at Wolf for being Ms. Hope's new favorite. And at Cress for being so perfect and amazing and happy. And at Cinder for being so moody when Scarlet would've given anything to switch spots. And at Winter for not making an attempt to comfort her or help her, which she knew was unfair but couldn't help feeling.

Her brain led her in circles, around and around and finally back to Wolf, who had gotten her into this mess in the first place.

* * *

The rehearsal was over and Cinder hadn't moved for the whole hour.

_What a waste of time, _she thought in annoyance. _I could've been working on fixing Peony's phone or Adri's broken car or any of the other million things I have to do. Is this lady trying to make me hate her? _

She turned back to the lighting box, which controlled the lights on the stage, which she had been tweaking in her boredom. She barely had to think about it, her hands just moved naturally and quickly. Rifling through the tools she had in her pants pocket, she selected a pair of pliers and used them to coerce some of the wires from one place to another.

"Hey."

The voice made her jump and Cinder dropped her tools. Cursing, she threw herself to the ground among all the crates and felt around in the dark for her tools, which she prized nearly more than anything. Swinging back up, she spun to glare into the innocent, slightly amused face of Kai.

"What are you doing here?" she snapped.

He shrugged. "Is it a crime to say hi? We'll be working together, anyway, since you're Levana's understudy." He brushed his hair out of his eyes and rolled his shoulders, habits that Cinder realized felt as familiar to her as Cress fidgeting with her hair or Scarlet touching her hidden shotgun. Against her will, she always noticed him.

"You haven't talked to me in weeks, and now you suddenly do?" her voice came out surprisingly bitter. "You won't talk to me when my sister gets sick, but you will when I get a part in the school musical? And here I am thinking you would have perfect social etiquette, as the principal's son and a megastar or whatever."

He stared at her. Giving a weak laugh, Kai told her, "Just because I seem perfect doesn't mean I am." His eyes burned into hers with that adorable sincere honesty. "And I really am sorry about not talking to you. I just - I thought you needed some space."

Cinder wanted to stay mad, but she didn't have it in her. "Forget about it."

Kai beamed at her. "What are you doing here?"

Cinder started. She had forgotten all about the lighting box. "Oh, just playing around, you know," she said, somewhat embarrassedly at revealing what she did when she was bored. "I can do a lot more with my full toolbox, but I right now don't have any wire cutters."

Laughing, Kai plucked the wrench out of her open palm. "Can you show me how to do the thing where you twirl it over your fingers?" he asked, clumsily brandishing the tool in a way that showed he had never touched one in his life and nearly dropping it.

Cinder took it back and demonstrated, the wrench slipping through her fingers with ease. "I've always wondered how you do that," Kai said with a smile. She reached out to hand it to him, but their fingers had just brushed when a voice called, "Kai!"

"Oops - got to go," he muttered, leaping up from where he had been sitting on the crate. Cinder looked resolutely away as he scooted back over to his friends. She gathered up the last of her tools and left the crate. No regrets, no impossible wishes, no looking back. That was her new motto.

Peony was in the hospital and here she was flirting with her sister's favorite celebrity. It was time to reexamine what was important in life. There was - no, there used to be something in Kai's golden brown eyes that made her heart flutter, but that was just a phase.

She was the old Cinder again. Practical, sensible, independent. She was the girl who wasn't going to hurt her sister by carrying on with this. She was the girl who didn't care about boys.

Wasn't she?

* * *

The school counselor was incredibly proud of Wolf. Apparently, Ms. Hope had told her what a natural performer her was and how well he was doing with the play. He appreciated the director's praise, but the I-told-you-so gleam in the counselor's eye infuriated him.

He left her office as fast as he could, hurrying to grab his backpack and leave the school. It was the day after the first rehearsal and the memories of Scarlet avoiding his eyes and talking to him as if they had never met before were still fresh in his mind. He was left to ponder them as he set off down the sidewalk to walk home, smiling slightly as a familiar red motorcycle zoomed down the street and leaving him in the dust.

The practice, surprisingly, had been quite fun. Wolf enjoyed putting on a new character and just _being _in that new life. He wished he could start a new life for himself as easily as he had slipped into being the Big Bad Wolf. But it wasn't the same without Scarlet laughing with him when they flubbed up lines or joking about Ms. Hope's ridiculous feathered hairpiece.

He was still slightly confused about why she had blown up at him so suddenly that day with Levana. Did she not want to associate with him or something? Wolf knew that he wasn't the definition of a model student, but he was changing, wasn't he? He was a better person than he had been a few months before. He was better than the person who had beat up Scarlet's best friend.

_Because of Scarlet. It's because of Scarlet that I changed._

But now the only person he thought worth talking to - the only person who might see something worthwhile in him - was ignoring him.

Wolf sighed and ran his huge hands through his matted, scraggly hair. Why did he always have to mess everything up so badly?

Speedier than most people as a result of his long, muscular legs, Wolf reached downtown in no time. This was the Wolf Pack's favorite area - lots of victims to torture and shops to steal from and nooks and crannies to hide in. But today, something felt different about it. Wolf didn't automatically scout the street for possible places to wreak chaos in or people who might be worth beating up. Instead, his eyes flitted to the groups of kids hanging out in various shops along the main boulevard. Kids laughing and joking with one another. Kids shopping and buying drinks and lending money to one another when someone didn't have enough. Kids helping each other with homework.

Was it too much to hope that someday Wolf might be one of those kids?

He pictured the social hierarchy of Commonwealth High like a pyramid. At the top, where everyone wanted to be, were the popular kids. They seemed to have everything. Money, clothes, cool friends and boyfriends and girlfriends. Then in the middle were the kids like Scarlet and her friends - not popular, not remotely "cool," but still happy. They had friends, and that was all they needed. The bottom row housed the kids like him. Crazy kids. Disabled kids. And like him - the "bad" kids.

Wolf and his brother Ran had arrived in Commonwealth excited at the prospect of going to a new school. Coach Jael had handpicked them from the pool of kids he had examined hoping to find some new talent for the football team, and Principal Rikan had personally financed their housing and living expenses. Wolf had strolled in on his first day hoping to make some friends and impress people with his superhuman strength and speed.

But none of that had happened.

Somehow, they had ended up with the drug dealers and street fighters when no one else seemed to like them. Ran had joined their ranks immediately, proud to become this kind of person. Proud to be defying their mother's wishes for them to have a better life away from poverty.

Wolf had taken some persuading, but he gave in. And everyone loved them. After seeing Wolf fight, they had pushed him into a lead role. They called themselves the "Wolf Pack" after his nickname, Wolf. And soon he stopped caring. He found himself enjoying the screams of people the beat up. He relished the excitement and energy of stepping into the street fighting ring at night.

In other words, he became a monster.

And now he wanted out.

He thought he understood why Scarlet was avoiding him now. _Will I ever be the person she wants me to be? Am I capable of changing?_

Wolf wanted to believe in himself. He wanted to have faith in the childish dream that if you put your mind to something it will come true. But if he had learned anything over the course of three rough years with the Pack, it was that some things you can never let go.

_Even if I left, they would never leave me. They will always come back to hunt me._

**Please follow, favorite, and review!**


	24. Chapter 24

Evenings in the Linh household were nowhere close to a pleasant affair nowadays. With the absence of Peony's usual ever-present stories and gossip and giggling, a hollow silence filled the apartment, broken by none of them. Pearl and Adri had taken to pointedly looking away every time they got close to Cinder, and though she was used to behavior like this from them, it stung worse than ever. The guilt over Peony's illness was a burden on her day and night.

The play rehearsal had been the worst, with Pearl crying in the corner every time she looked at her, and the director loudly calling Peony's name several times before Cinder managed to suck it up and tell her what had happened. Cinder knew that they blamed her. And they were right in doing so, but still, the grief and guilt and anxiety sometimes made it feels like she was suffocating. Lost, in an ocean of people who didn't understand what she was feeling. For a brief while, Commonwealth had started to feel like her home, but now she was an outsider again.

But Cinder's personal troubles were nothing compared to the crisis their city was now facing. Following Peony, several more people had been infected with the new strain of chickenpox. Within days, a full-on quarantine zone had been set up in the city hospital. The new disease spread like wildfire all over the country. Citizens were advised to stay home as much as possible and avoid direct contact with other people. However, that was nearly impossible in a big city like theirs where you could hardly walk down the sidewalk without bumping into other people. Churches, marketplaces, and the jumble of popular shops downtown stayed open to the usual crowds of people, despite the government's advice.

The days seemed to slip by, each pulling Cinder down further into her black hole. Adri and Pearl were still in shock from the suddenness of Peony's illness, preventing them from thinking too much about Cinder, but she expected an explosion directed at her any day now. Play practice stayed as dull and pointless as the first one, and Levana made sure Kai never left her sight. Worst of all, it felt like her friends were withdrawing - not that Cinder was making much of an effort to talk to them either. Each girl was facing her own separate problems, yet none of them confided in each other.

Cinder didn't care too much about anything at the moment. A teacher approached her during morning break to inform her of her slipping grades, her spiel falling on deaf ears. Only one thing occupied the forefront of her brain: Peony. Thoughts of her fragile little sister in all alone in a massive quarantine zone where there weren't enough resources to go around, dying among hundreds of other patients, made her shudder.

Everything seemed to swim around her, harsh overhead fluorescents blaring in her eyes, the laughter and chatter of other students suddenly pitching and magnifying in her ears, the teacher standing before her blurring into a smudge that was bending over her, trying to see if she was all right.

_Of course I'm not all right! _Cinder wanted to scream, but she couldn't find her voice. _Do I look like I'm all right? _She pushed herself up off the ground and stumbled blindly away from the teacher, knowing that she was causing a scene, but she just needed to get out of there. In the back of her mind, some small part of her mused about this feeling of being suffocated by everything going on. _Is this what Winter feels like all the time?_

"Cinder!" several voices called after her, shrill among the din. "Come back!" "Where are you going?" "Are you all right?" There it was again, that stupid question. Cinder raced through the hallways, everything still blurry and confused, her chest heaving as she finally slowed to a frantic walk. It was too much, all of it.

She became dimly aware of footsteps pounding after her and started to stumble onward, not wanting to face her confused friends. But the footfalls persisted, quickly outpacing her. A hand closed around her wrist. Her metal wrist. Cinder gasped and spun around so suddenly that Kai nearly crashed into her as the hem of her glove snuck up and his warm fingers brushed, for a fraction of a second, the cold, hard metal joining her prosthetic to her human arm...

Yanking her arm away, Cinder turned her back on him, still shaking and sweating. At least she wasn't crying. She hadn't cried since she was little, but emotional times like this when she let her walls crumble were sure to break her someday. Slowly, she inched up the hem of her glove.

"Cinder." His voice was warm, soft, earnest. Not like the condescending teachers who thought all she needed was a pat on the back to comfort her. Almost against her will, she turned around, holding eye contact across the several feet between them. For a moment, she was sure his eyes flicked down the place on her arm he had grabbed. She internally tensed, but he seemed to disregard it at the moment. "What do you need?"

The question was so unexpected that she started. Cinder realized she had no idea what she needed, or where she was going. She started to shake her head, but then the answer came to her. It was so simple. The images she had been thinking about earlier flashed back into her brain, but she pushed them away. "I need to see my sister."

Kai nodded. He seemed almost satisfied as if he had guessed correctly that that was the case. "So go see her." Breaking eye contact, he took a shifting step backward, then another. "I'll tell everyone you felt sick and had to go home."

Cinder stared at him. Sometimes he seemed as indifferent to her as any other popular kid, and sometimes he was like this. Compassionate. Helpful. Guiding. Like any good friend.

Kai gestured his hands in an awkward sweeping motion like he was shooing her away. "Come on, just go. I promise I'll cover for you. Lev - my friends skip all the time. It's no big deal."

Nodding mutely, slowly moving backward, Cinder held his gaze for one last moment. Then she turned and ran away down the hall.

* * *

If there was one thing Cinder had learned about dealing with people from her years of running a business, it was that all you need is a little luck and a whole lot of confidence. Being the only child running a booth in the marketplace, people had often tried to swindle her into getting things for cheap. But Cinder never let them do that. Her brain and eyes were sharper than most, and she calmly stood up for herself every time this happened until she gained a reputation as someone who wouldn't be messed with.

Getting herself a seat on the shuttle ride was nothing compared to bargaining with those tricksters. "How old are you?" the driver had asked suspiciously, peering her up and down. "We don't let unaccompanied minors ride the shuttle."

She rolled her eyes as if the question bored her. "Eighteen," Cinder told him flatly, keeping her face as still as possible and her hands unmoving. She had spent the whole walk from the school to the shuttle station berating herself for her breakdown. She wasn't the type of person who usually let her emotions get the better of her. She needed to get a better handle on this whole situation.

Now, her mindset had completely changed, pinpointing a singular focus: getting to Peony. This was the best version of Cinder, where she was so determined to get what she wanted that she was ready to use every ounce of cunning she possessed. You didn't need to use force when you had brains.

Cinder got off the shuttle a block away from the Commonwealth City Hospital, wringing her hands in anticipation for what she would see inside the massive, modern-looking building. Steeling herself, she walked unhesitantly through the automatic doors.

When Cinder, Adri, and Pearl had been to the hospital the day they discovered Peony was sick, the front lobby had been a hall of serene quiet and calmness. There had been almost no one in sight except for the lady at the front desk. Now it was practically the opposite. Everywhere Cinder looked, people were bustling past, doctors in white lab coats talking urgently to nurses, lab assistants pushing large carts of medical supplies, harassed-looking authorities scanning clipboards. During ordinary times, this might have just looked like an extremely busy day. But Cinder knew it was because of the disease.

Cinder didn't see any point in going to the front desk, especially since she wouldn't be able to push a path through the crowds. Instead, she slipped into the waves of people, blending in easily. She quietly followed a group of doctors seeming to be in an intense conversation, hoping that they were heading toward the quarantine zone. That was where Peony was.

She knew it was unlikely that she would be able to see her sister up close, but just to make sure she was okay in there would be enough. Cinder hadn't been following the news and had no idea if visitors were allowed, but it wasn't like her to stay within boundaries. She would see her sister, whatever it took.

They walked through several sterile white hallways, the walls on her left and right smooth and unbroken except for an occasional door. It didn't look like they were near the patient rooms, the doors looked like they led to offices. Cinder had a smug fantasy for a moment, imagining her returning home to tell Adri and Pearl where she had been, school attendance records hopefully unscathed assuming Kai had managed to excuse her.

The group of doctors departed from the rest of the crowds and turned down a separate hallway. Cinder's fantasies evaporated as panic started to churn inside her stomach. She would have to wait to keep going, it would be too obvious that she was following them if they were the only ones in the hall. But what if they took another turn that she didn't know about? She melted out of the crowd, sinking against the nearest wall as she thought out all of her options.

"Cinder!"

Her head snapped up immediately. No one who knew her should be here. Her mind darted through worst-case scenarios, from Kai deciding to follow her to the principal coming to track her down. She debated making a break for it but decided that she had come this far and couldn't risk quitting.

"Don't worry," said an old man with bright blue eyes and a rumpled woolly hat, hurrying over to her on his short legs. _Professor Darnel! _She hadn't been able to see him over the crowd; he was so short. "You're not in trouble or anything. I just wanted to help you since you looked lost."

She stared at him uncomprehendingly. Why was he here, if not to come to find her? "Shouldn't you be teaching?" she asked in confusion.

He smiled at her. He had the exact same quirky, thin-lipped grin as Cress. "I don't spend all my time teaching, my dear girl. The hospital needed my help with some experimental research regarding the disease. Senora Santiago, the Spanish teacher, is substituting for me today."

"Oh," Cinder said, not really paying attention to what he was saying. "Are you mad at me for not being at school?"

His expression softened. "Of course not. I understand better than anyone the pain of an absent family member." Cinder racked her brains for any time Cress had mentioned someone dead or gone in her family, but she couldn't think of anything. She silently filed the information away for later.

"Well...er, thank you," she told him, trying to smile.

Professor Darnel gave her the look teachers always give when they know exactly what you are up to. "We may skip the pleasantries. Off to the quarantines!" He darted back into the crowd with the agility of a man much younger. Smiling for real this time, Cinder followed.

* * *

They ended up in a viewing area set high above the room below, separated from the quarantine zone by a wall of thick glass. As she had imagined, the quarantine wasn't a pleasant place. Every inch of the room was filled with beds upon which victims of the disease lay, covered in spots, moaning and crying out in pain. The clusters of patient beds were separated only by narrow aisles through which heavily protected medical workers hurried, giving water here and there, checking temperatures, and - Cinder felt an involuntary shiver along her whole body when she saw this - once in a while, picking up dead bodies that were to be disposed of.

"Terrible, terrible," murmured Professor Darnel, looking at her in concern. "I never would've expected the disease to hit us this hard - the poorer rural towns, yes, but here, in a big, well-financed city...You're lucky you get to come here. This area is mostly for doctors and researchers. Most families of the sick don't get to see them at all."

Cinder did not want to be told she was lucky. She didn't feel lucky at all, having just caught sight of Peony in one of the beds along the walls almost right below them, her beautiful face barely recognizable under the sheen of sweat and the ugly rash of blisters.

"There she is," her teacher said, seeing where she was looking. "Of course, I didn't teach her, but she seemed like a lovely young girl...always laughing, and had a very kind heart, helped me pick up a bunch of papers I dropped in the hall one day - "

"Stop talking about her in the past tense," Cinder snapped. She was still staring insistently down at Peony as if her sister would be able to feel Cinder's brainwaves and look up at her.

Professor Darnel fell silent at once. After staring at her for a while, he chanced to speak again. "But Cinder...you mustn't get your hopes up too much. Peony might be young and healthy, but the disease especially affects children...and she's been here for, what, three weeks? She'll have to be in at least the third stage by now."

"What does that mean?" asked Cinder, glaring at the man who would dare to suggest that. That was impossible, wasn't it, when Peony was so young. The universe couldn't possibly be that cruel.

Then again, Cinder never would've believed the universe would kill a girl's parents, cause her to replace her limbs with prosthetics, and go live with a cruel family if it hadn't happened in her own life.

"There are four stages of the disease," Professor Darnel explained. "Your sister would have entered the first a few weeks ago, when her immune system would try to fight it off - but fail. The second stage was probably sometime the next day when the spots and other telltale symptoms began to show up." Cinder remembered how Peony hadn't shown signs of the disease until the day after their little adventure. "In the next stage, the disease gets stronger, taking over her body even more. And now - in the final stage, I presume - Peony could be in her last days."

Silence followed that dramatic proclamation. "She is not going to die!" Cinder's voice came out more wobbly and loud than usual.

Professor Darnel, brow creasing with sympathy, opened his mouth to say something, but his phone vibrated in his pocket before he could replay. He scanned it quickly, eyes widening. "I'm so sorry, Cinder, but I have to go." He took off his hat and ran his fingers through his graying hair in agitation. "You can have a few more minutes with your sister, but then out. And - " he paused, looking slightly sheepish, "Please don't mention this to anyone. I'm not really supposed to take anyone up here."

"Oh - okay, professor." She hesitated as he turned to go, before bursting out, "Thank you. For everything."

He gave her a sad smile, probably still thinking of Peony. "No problem at all, no problem." The heavy door clanged shut behind him.

The second he was gone, Cinder directed her attention back toward Peony. Her sister, who had previously been curled up asleep, was now awake, although barely. She could see her shivering and sweating in the huge room, covered in blankets, knees tucked in tight to her chest as she rocked back and forth. _She needs me, _Cinder thought desperately.

Cautiously, Cinder leaned forward and rapped on the window. It was a massive stroke of luck that Peony's bed was almost right under the viewing window. Her sister might - just might - be able to hear her. Hoping beyond hope that the window wasn't soundproof, Cinder pounded on it again, this time calling, "Peony!"

Her sister didn't react.

Deflating for a second, Cinder pulled back to think. There was probably lots of noise within that room, what with all the people bustling around and the patients coughing and groaning. Peony might be able to hear Cinder's fists hitting the glass, but it would take something more for her to realize it was her older sister.

Taking in a breath of hope, she rapped again on the window, but this time, not just frantic pounding. The tune of the theme song of Peony's favorite television show sounded, however tunelessly, through the visiting room, hopefully penetrating the window too. It had worked; Cinder saw Peony stir and look around, confused. Cinder pounded out a few more beats, calling, "Peony!" once again. She checked her watch, she had promised Professor Darnel to leave soon, but she just needed a few minutes here. Enough for Peony to realize she was there.

The sight of Peony's shocked but happy face staring at Cinder lessened so much of the weight on her shoulders. All her other troubles seemed trivial when compared with the fact that she could be there for her sister - maybe not up close, but this was enough. Peony, even though she was clearly fatigued, still managed to beam at Cinder, though it had none of her usual childish joy. Cinder was so overcome with emotion she could barely stand, and sank down to the floor, palm pressed against the glass. She tried to communicate without words how much she loved her and had missed her.

Peony managed to raise her head off the pillow. Her eyes were brimming with tears, although Cinder's stayed stubbornly dry. _Mom and Pearl? _her sister mouthed. Cinder's heart suddenly hardened. Adri and Pearl didn't deserve any of the love Peony gave them. If they had wanted to be here with Peony, they would be here. And yet Cinder was the only one who had come.

She simply shook her head at Peony, who looked crestfallen. Cinder racked her brains desperately for something else to say, to distract her. She mimed swiping her fingers across a phone, mouthing, _Fixing it. _

But Peony seemed done with the conversation. She had slumped back onto the messy mound of blankets and pillows on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Cinder shivered at the sight of her pale, almost bloodless fingers hanging limply over the side of the bed. This paper doll of a girl was so different from her usually full-of-life sister. She rapped one more time on the glass, hoping that Peony would look up one more time. Just to say good-bye.

Peony didn't move.

Cinder instincts knew that something was wrong. She thumped her fists more desperately on the glass, attracting the attention of some of the masked workers in the quarantine. When Peony still didn't look at her, Cinder barged across the viewing room, throwing the door open, and raced blindly down some flights of stairs. She pushed through the crowds of hospital workers in the halls, charging for the entrance to the quarantine without even thinking. Turning down the hallway she had seen the doctors going down earlier, she raced toward the heavily sealed door. Above it was a sign that read, HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS PATIENTS. DO NOT ENTER WITHOUT APPROVED PROTECTIVE GEAR.

Cinder shoved the door open with all her might.

The stench inside the quarantine hit her first. She gagged as she ran, choking in the thick scent of sweaty bodies and, unmistakably, death. Patients covered in blisters just like Peony looked up blearily as she ran by.

Reaching Peony's bedside, gasping for breath, Cinder flung herself down on the bed. Immediately reaching for her sister's limp, dangling white hand, she gingerly grasped her wrist, the papery skin marred with red spots.

Her cold, lifeless wrist.

She dropped it back onto the bed as if burned. Tentatively leaning forward, Cinder found herself staring directly into her sister's eyes. Wide-open eyes. Not even a single flutter of lashes.

"No - no," Cinder gasped, grabbing her sister more roughly and shaking her. This wasn't happening. Hadn't Peony just been smiling at her a few minutes before? Professor Darnel's voice echoed in her head. _Peony could be in her last days._

"Come on, Peony, wake up!" her voice sounded shriller than usual. Standing up from the bed now, Cinder scooped up Peony's light body, almost screaming at her now. "Damnit...just wake up, Peony! Peony, please!" All her sister did was droop her head onto Cinder's shoulder. Cinder listened as hard as she could, but there was no sound from her lips. Not even a breath of air.

Cinder dropped her sister's body back onto the bed. No hope left in her mind now, she resorted to the only thing that could combat the grief: anger. "Peony!" she screamed, more of sorrow than of desperation this time. Fingers needing something to do, she pulled out a wrench and chucked it as hard as she could at the wall. Scooping it up from the floor, she reared back again to strike the metal as hard as she could. She just needed to do something right now. Anything at all.

Patients were starting to scream. Cinder supposed she looked quite deranged, but she didn't care. "Peony," she gasped one more time, before throwing herself at the wall and sliding down. The pain, the bruises forming on her skin were nothing compared to the numbing pain inside.

Suddenly, arms were around her, pulling her up with force. "Miss," said a voice in her ear, "I am going to have to ask you to vacate the premises before you injure someone or catch the disease." All the fight had drained out of her by now. Cinder stood up, back stooped, to hobble toward the door, but at the last second, she caught sight of something over the man's shoulder.

Peony's body. Being lifted onto a stretcher. To be taken away from her.

Cinder let out another howl and tore herself from the man's grip. All she knew was that she needed to get to Peony, to prevent the people from taking her. Peony belonged to her family, not to random strangers. But the stretcher was already fifty feet away from her, and the burning in her legs intensified as if trying to prevent her from reaching her sister. Someone was running after her. Cinder surged ahead, but the woman had already grabbed her around the waist and tackled her.

Cinder was propped up against the wall, dazed and shocked. Concerned faced flickered in and out of sight, advancing on her. She made one last desperate bid for freedom, wanting - needing to get to Peony. But then something sharp plunged into her arm and everything went black.

Struggling to stay awake, Cinder heard the voices of the workers as if from far away. "I was expecting that to happen eventually. I'm just praying she didn't catch it."

Then the other voice. "You really can't blame her. Grief is a funny thing. You can never predict how it's going to affect people."

A short chuckle. "Some of them just break down crying, but not this one. She's a fighter, she is. She can make it through this, I know she will."

And with that, Cinder gave into the blissful waves of numbness and let herself be pulled under.

**I know I've been writing a lot of Kaider, but I promise there'll be lots of the other ships coming up!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Thanks for all the reviews! And to whoever mentioned coronavirus, yes, that is where I got some inspiration for the previous chapter. Isn't it a funny coincidence that Marissa Meyer wrote about a highly contagious disease just years before this? And Cinder is set in China, where coronavirus originated. I just hope it wasn't created by a secret colony on the moon :)**

Cinder knew even before she began to drift back into consciousness that something was wrong. In the realm where she floated somewhere between waking and sleeping, she felt a burning emptiness in her heart, the wound fresh and raw. A Peony-shaped space. The thought was enough to bring a surge of energy back into her body, and she started awake.

She looked around, frowning. The last thing she remembered was being in the quarantine, chasing after Peony. But now she lay in a small room, as sterile and simple as the rest of the hospital. How on earth had she gotten here? Cinder knew she had been asleep, but she found it highly unlikely that she had laid down for a nap in the quarantine zone.

And then the pieces clicked together in her head. _They drugged me! _she thought in outrage. Cinder leaped to her feet off of the table where she had been lying. How much time had passed? Cinder summoned up all her anger at the hospital people for leaving her here, unconscious, because any emotion was better than the painful grief of losing Peony. "Let me out," she scowled up at the ceiling, not really believing anyone was listening to her. So she was surprised when a voice responded through hidden speakers.

"Ah, Miss Linh. Sleeping Beauty awakes." That voice was familiar, although distorted through the crackly speakers.

"Professor Darnel," she grumbled. "You do realize I have things to do and places to be. I don't have time to take a nap."

"Oh, please don't be angry at me. I couldn't do anything to help you. However, the workers told me you were getting quite violent in the quarantine. Didn't I explicitly tell you not to draw attention to yourself?" Though his tone was light, she felt guilty. He had told her that.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Everything is getting sorted out. In fact, I should be the one who's sorry." With a pang, Cinder thought of Peony. She gritted her teeth, forcing the thought out of her mind. She couldn't afford to let the grief overwhelm her.

"I need to get home. My stepmother is probably waiting for me." She grimaced at the thought of what Adri might do to her if she got home late. "What time is it?"

She sensed hesitation in Professor Darnel's voice. "On that note, Miss Linh..." Unease prickled down Cinder's skin. She heard him sigh, and the next words were muffled, as though he was covering the mouthpiece of the speaker. "Bring them in."

Two disheveled figures entered the room, eyes puffy and red, hair tangled and matted. Cinder stared at them for a moment before realizing they were Pearl and Adri. Her fussy, vain, adoptive family, now looking like this? What could've happened?

_Oh. _Comprehension dawned. _Peony. _She didn't want to face them but forced herself to. Cinder hadn't been expecting them to hug her or anything, but she would have expected something to change. They were now united by grief, bound by sorrow. That's why it was a shock when the first words out of Adri's mouth were, "How could you, Cinder?"

She started. "How could I - what?" How could Adri, hours after finding out about her daughter's death, decide to pick a fight with one of Peony's best friends? _Because she's like me. _Cinder swallowed. Anger was easier to bear than grief. Numbness more than pain. Bitterness more than sorrow.

Adri's lips were thin and white. Tear tracks mixed with makeup ran down her face. "How could you make a mockery of our family?"

"I didn't - "

"Don't you dare lie to me!" Cinder was still bewildered. "I know you've been bandying around, cutting class and breaking into hospitals. Once the news gets out, we will be the laughingstock of the city! Your acts are akin to those of common criminals and hooligans!" Cinder opened her mouth to retort, but Adri cut across her. "I assume you don't even know about the news that has been delivered t - to Pearl and me. We now have a funeral to plan for." Her voice shook with emotion.

"You've been tracking my phone."

"I became aware that I needed to, Cinder, after Pearl called me from school to inform me that you were missing. We knew perfectly well that you were not sick." Adri drew herself up, attempting to wipe the mess from her face and still leaking eyes. Pearl sat on the table Cinder had been lying on, face buried in her hands. "It has come to my attention that you have been abusing the privileges of freedom I give you -"

"Privileges? What privileges?" Cinder cried indignantly. "Privileges like doing all the chores and sleeping on a bare mattress?" She heard a tiny snort come from the overhead speakers, which was hastily turned into a cough.

Adri ignored her, speaking even louder. "I thought you could be responsible, but now I know you cannot. I let your last escapade slip by on the sole fact that you did it for Peony. But now -" She shrugged. "No Peony, no excuses."

Cinder was shocked that Adri would throw her daughter's name around like that. "How dare _you_!" she cried. "Peony was never an excuse! She was my friend - no more than that, she was my _sister_! I never would've used her like that. And besides, I had a perfectly good reason for leaving school and coming to the hospital."

Now it was Adri's turn to be confused. Pearl looked up, face stained with snot and tears.

Cinder started to laugh. "Are you actually as stupid as you look?" she asked incredulously. "You thought that I would just randomly skip school and come break into a hospital? Now I see why you think I'm a criminal."

"Oh yes, I'm sure you had a legitimate reason for randomly coming to a hospital in the middle of the day," snapped Adri, regaining her composure. "Please, enlighten us."

"FOR YOUR DAUGHTER!" Cinder bellowed, feeling a surge hatred for Adri like she had never felt before. Did no one understand her actions? "YOUR OWN DAUGHTER WAS DYING IN THE HOSPITAL ALONE AND I NEEDED TO SEE HER! But," she panted, glaring at the mute Adri and Pearl, "I suppose you don't care, you think I'm trying to use Peony as an excuse again."

"Why do you care so much about her?" The croaky voice from behind was a surprise. Cinder whirled around to see Pearl, looking defiant through her tears. "She wasn't your sister."

"Exactly, Pearl!" Adri agreed, turning on Cinder once more. "You never really cared for her. She was never your friend." Adri's eyes gleamed malevolently. "She spent time with you because she felt _pity _for you, you worthless orphan! She spent time with you because she had a heart. And you used her." In a deranged way, Adri started tearing at her hair and pacing around the room. "It's your fault she's sick! And you don't even feel remorse, do you! SHE'S DEAD AND IT'S YOUR FAULT!

As if Adri had physically struck her, Cinder staggered and sank onto the other end of the table. The world had gone fuzzy before her eyes. "No," she breathed, eyes unfocused and the words so quiet she could barely hear them. The rage had disappeared, replaced by an icy-cold hatred. "You're wrong. I loved her. I really did."

Adri's voice had lowered to, now silky smooth and sneering. "If you loved her so much, then go on. Shed a tear for her." Adri gestured at herself and her daughter. "We've done enough crying. It's time for you to share the burden."

No tears leaked from Cinder's eyes. They hadn't, after all, in years, and now was not the time to start. Cinder straightened back up. "I'm not going to cry."

"Well, that proves my point!" Adri's voice was hysterical again. "You don't care! You never have and you never will! You don't deserve to call her your sister!" Gasping for breath, she collapsed next to Pearl and put an arm around her shaking daughter. "You are a disgrace to us, Cinder. You have no heart; you can't feel anything for your 'sister.' _You are not human._"

"I am human." Cinder tried to appear unfazed. But the words cut. She remembered all the little kids torturing her back in elementary school, jeering about the cyborg, the robot girl, the freak. "And I'm tired of being labeled because of my appearance. You know perfectly well that the doctors didn't do anything to my brain."

"I believe she does have a heart, Ms. Adri Linh, or she would be dead," came the light, joking voice again from the speakers. Cinder glared up at her teacher. She could handle this on her own.

"But still," whispered Adri, words punctuating the quiet like bullets. "You don't feel anything for her. You don't cry. You should be dead, not her."

"Not crying isn't a sign of indifference, Adri. It's a sign of strength."

"And you pride yourself on your 'strength,' don't you?" Adri was rekindling her hatred. "You think you're so strong to have survived the car accident, and the surgeries, and everything that has happened to you in my household?" Cinder started at the mention of her former life. Adri avoided speaking about it if she could. "Well, Cinder, I hope you know that in my eyes, you are the very embodiment of weakness. You are _nothing_. You should've died years ago. YOU SHOULD'VE DIED BEFORE YOU COULD COME HERE AND RUIN MY FAMILY!"

"I didn't ruin your family," spat Cinder. "You ruined it yourself. You chose not to be kind to me." Sweeping toward the door, she turned to say one last thing. "If anything, you're the one who's not human. I could've had you arrested for child abuse, you know. But I chose not to. Because I knew you were in grief for your husband. _Because I had a heart._" And with that, she left her stepfamily sitting their dumbfounded, vowing to never speak to them again.

* * *

Fuming, Cinder stormed down the busy street outside the hospital without thinking of where she was going or how she would get back to the apartment. She had to get back there somehow, to pack up her clothes and tools. But then she was leaving and never going back. The whole world felt different, somehow. The cruel words from Adri were nothing new, Cinder had been through years of that. But this was the first time she had fought back. _I am strong. I am a survivor. _

She would be able to figure out what to do. She had a job, after all, which was more than what Adri had. She would have to survive by herself. Cinder didn't care if Adri had legal rights over her. She would refuse to go back. Heck, she would file a lawsuit if it came to that. Professor Darnel could be a witness.

All she had to do was find a place to live for the next six months of school. And then Cinder would be off to college, even though she was only sixteen, and she could leave this city behind forever. Now that Peony was gone, there was nothing to keep her tethered to her adoptive family.

"You sure are strong, Miss Linh," came the same chuckling voice that had echoed through the speakers only minutes before. Cinder didn't even look at her teacher as he fell in step beside her. "Your stepmother got what she deserved."

She just shrugged, not wanting to talk about it. She was even slightly embarrassed that someone had had to see their dysfunctional family antics. "I'm fine, you know," she said. "I was just going to go home."

"I'll save you the trouble of walking," Professor Darnel smiled. "Why don't you accompany me in my car? I can drop you off." Cinder could see no good argument to get herself out of the situation. Reluctantly, she followed him into a parking garage, bracing herself for the questions she knew were coming.

"So, what are you planning on doing?" The question was phrased in a light way as if he was just making polite conversation, but Cinder knew he was worried about her. And she didn't like it. She didn't need anyone in her life to be worried about her. She was so used to taking care of herself in Adri's household, it was weird that now someone was finally concerned about her.

"I have a job," she told him flatly. "I can rent a little place. I'll be fine." She could hear the rude finality in her tone and reminded herself that she was talking to a teacher. "Not that you're doing anything wrong. I just - " She grasped for the right words.

"You need to figure things out by yourself," he supplied gently. Those twinkling blue eyes were gentle and paternal, the way he always looked at Cress. The way she had never been looked at. Cinder nodded.

They were silent for the rest of the ride. Apparently, Cinder had been unconscious for a few hours because the sun was setting against the backdrop of mountains in the distance, casting fiery streaks across the sky. They crested a hill, and Cinder could see the crowded neighborhoods of Commonwealth City sprawling out beneath them. They had left the city and were retreating to the poorer areas.

She departed her teacher's car a few minutes later, thanking him one more time. Even though she didn't want to fully confide in him, he had undoubtedly gotten her out of several tight scrapes that day. As she turned to walk away, he gently grabbed her wrist and handed Cinder her backpack, which she had left in the hospital. She could definitely see where Cress got her compassion from.

Once she was back inside the apartment, alone, Cinder let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. _This is the end of an era, _she thought solemnly. It felt like eons ago that they had moved here, and Cinder's biggest worries had been leaving Iko and starting at a new school. She realized that she had changed a lot since then. It was like Peony's death had been a wake-up call to the real world. _Everything can change in an instant. _

She knew that the grief would come, later. The immeasurable pain of losing someone you loved was impossible to prevent. But not yet. She could hold it off for now. Trooping upstairs, Cinder slowly gathered up her meager belongings in her backpack. She dumped out everything unnecessary: textbooks, novels, and other supplies. School was no longer the most important thing in her life right now. She had already applied for college, these last few months didn't matter as much.

Now, she turned her mind to more pressing problems. Cinder was planning to rent a small apartment, far away from the Phoenix Towers, but she couldn't do that right now. She felt she had already accepted too many favors from Professor Darnel. That wasn't an option. Kai was the next thought to spring to her mind, but she pushed it down. She tried to imagine a scene where she showed up on the front porch of his mansion and told him she was running away from home. Talk about awkward.

Winter wasn't an option, she lived with Levana. _Scarlet, _she decided. She had never been there, but she had the address to the farm. Taking one last look around the apartment, wishing there had been more time to live happily here with her sister and her new friends. Making sure she had all of her mechanic tools, she opened the door and left, her ever-present smell of grease and metal clinging in the air a reminder to Adri and Pearl of the girl who had lived there. The girl who had fought back.

* * *

Cinder could see why Scarlet loved the farm. She stepped out of her taxi, taking the whole scene in. In the darkness that was closing in, her senses seemed heightened and she could feel the gentle brush of the wind, smell the earthiness of the ground where she could just make out rows of growing vegetables. After the stifling tightness of the city, the contaminated air, this place felt wonderful and wide-open. It felt like _life._

Taking a breath, Cinder stepped up to the door of the little house down the lane and knocked on the white-painted door. This felt like the first step of a long, long journey, a journey away from the cruelty of Adri's household. She heard footsteps on the other side of the door. She opened her mouth to say hi to Scarlet when the door opened, but instead of facing a friendly welcome, the end of a small shotgun nearly poked her in the face. "State your name and business!" barked a voice she recognized as Scarlet's.

"Um...Cinder, your friend," she said slightly nervously. "I'll explain later, but I need a place to stay tonight."

The shotgun dropped to Scarlet's side. "Nice to see you," said her friend. "Sorry about that, but my Grand-mere says that you can never be too careful, and you know, when it's night - "

"I get it," Cinder told her. "Anyway...I'm kind of running away from home, so I was hoping - "

"Whoa, slow down," Scarlet cried. "You're running away? Why? How?"

A million thoughts seemed to freeze in Cinder's head as she contemplated that question. Why was she doing this? _Peony. _But of course, Scarlet didn't know about that. She opened her mouth, trying to think of a way to dodge the question, when there were more footsteps down the hall.

"Who is it, Scar?" asked a sharp voice. Cinder glanced at the newcomer. Scarlet often talked about her grandmother, so Cinder had gotten a sense of what she might be like. She understood Scarlet's description immediately upon seeing the woman's small body and clear brown eyes that fixated on Cinder: this was a woman who was kind and sweet yet fierce and independent. She wasn't the typical grandmother stereotype. She wasn't a woman to be messed with.

"Grand-mere, this is - " But Scarlet's words were cut off by a gasp from her grandmother.

Cinder flinched as the woman stared directly into her eyes. "It's you," she whispered, clutching her chest with a shocked look in her eyes. She stepped closer as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. "I don't believe it. It's you."


	26. Chapter 26

**Thank you so much for all the reviews! And yay, I got another follow and favorite! **

"Grand-mere?" Scarlet asked in confusion, looking back and forth between Cinder and her grandmother. Michelle Benoit stood frozen on the spot, staring at Cinder in horror. Glancing furtively at her friend, Scarlet saw her expression of befuddlement mirrored back at her. Grand-mere and Cinder had never met, had they?

Watching her grandmother closely, Scarlet saw her blink a few times, seeming to be fighting some sort of internal battle. Then, deciding on what to do, she shook her head to clear it and backed away down the hall with a forced smile. "Looks like you'll be staying the night," she called to Cinder. "I'll just...go tidy up the guest room, and then - "

"Grand-mere!" snapped Scarlet. "We can tell something's wrong!" Cinder looked more uncomfortable than ever standing on the threshold, an intruder into their cozy household. Scarlet stared seethingly into her grandmother's eyes. Growing up with someone like Luc for a father, she had had to learn early on the art of detecting lies. _I'll be back in an hour, Scarlet, _meant that he wouldn't be back until morning. _I'm going to go run some errands, and then I'll be back, _was code for _I have a secret, and I don't want you to find out, so I'm going to leave so that you can't interrogate me. _She had never thought she would have to read between the lines with Grand-mere, her savior, her protector, her caretaker. Grand-mere told her everything.

Her grandmother looked pitiful standing there, almost silhouetted by the bright lights of the kitchen. Scarlet noticed with a jolt how much thinner she was getting. She wasn't the same woman who had once fought for her country in the air force or piloted a dangerous mission to another country. She was getting older, though still strong in mind and spirit.

"I'm sorry, Scarlet dear," she whispered. "But I can't tell you."

At once, Scarlet felt the fire spark in her chest, the same barely contained burning anger that had gotten her into trouble so many times in the past. "That's not fair," she said, cringing at the coldness of her voice and the way she was so openly defying her grandmother in front of Cinder. This had never happened before. Over the past few weeks, Scarlet had felt something shift between them. Normally, Grand-mere was the one who always fought for her and protected her. But now Scarlet, almost an adult, had taken on a new role of authority. They were equals now. Someday, Grand-mere would be too old and sick to work and it would be Scarlet's job to run the farm. She needed to get into the habits of thinking for herself and making her own choices, not blatantly doing whatever her grandmother said.

"I used to know you, didn't I," came a new voice, and Scarlet looked over to see Cinder staring at her grandmother in a new light. Her brow was furrowed as if she was trying to dredge up memories long forgotten. "When - when I was in the orphanage." Scarlet tilted her head in interest. Cinder seldom talked about her past. All she knew was that the younger girl had been in a terrible car accident, causing her to lose several limbs as well as her parents, and soon been adopted by the Linh family.

Something in Grand-mere's eyes softened. She was looking at Cinder oddly, almost tenderly. "You remember."

"I - I think I do," whispered Cinder. She took another step into the house, now fully inside. "You seem familiar."

Scarlet was thinking fast, attempting to connect the dots in her head from the limited information she had. "You told me you worked at an orphanage after serving!" she cried. "But...if you worked in the orphanage where Cinder was, why would you need to hide that from us? Why did you say you can't tell us?"

Her grandmother sighed. "I wasn't thinking about the part about taking care of Cinder when she was younger - for a very short time, bear in mind. There are...other parts to the story that I can't tell you."

"My parents?" breathed Cinder, fidgeting with a backpack strap. Scarlet realized at that moment that all of her friends were missing at least one of their parents - though not all of them had been taken in some tragic way. She felt much worse for Winter, who's parents had committed suicide, than for her, what with her incompetent swine of a father and promiscuous, flighty mother. To them, Scarlet was nothing more than an "accident." She didn't miss them in the least, but one could assume that Cinder would want to know who they were.

"I..." Grand-mere hesitated, and she looked older than ever at that moment, with the kind of bone-deep weariness only farmers get, a result of working from dawn to dusk every day. But her grandmother hadn't always been a farmer, Scarlet reminded herself. She had a whole past behind her, and Scarlet was determined to learn everything that had been hidden from. "I'll tell you as much as I can."

Minutes later, they were sitting at the simple wooden dining room table while Grand-mere bustled around the kitchen behind them, trying to make tea and bread but nearly smashing the teacups and slicing her finger off with the breadknife. Cinder wasn't looking at Scarlet. She seemed nervous too as if trying to brace herself for shocking information. Scarlet just felt restless. She often got that feeling when inside for too long. Growing up on a farm, being muddy and barefoot with the wind in her hair was second nature. She needed to be outside and running to the horizon, where there was endless space and freedom and no one to tease you for being yourself. Out in nature, no one was hateful or judgemental or jealous. It was a place she imagined her friends would want to be. A place Wolf would want to be.

Both girls snapped back to attention when Grand-mere plunked the platter down on the table, nervously serving tea and freshly made bread and goat cheese from their animals. Here at Benoit Farm, they didn't have as many high-tech appliances as other people, but they lived a comfortable life.

Cinder didn't take her cup of tea. She started in with the questions right away, peeling off her gloves. To Scarlet's surprise, Grand-mere didn't seem surprised in the slightest upon seeing her prosthetic hand. "Do you know who my parents are? Who took care of me after my surgeries? Who even decided to give me surgery? Why didn't they just let me die?"

Grand-mere closed her eyes. "I know very little that will interest you," she murmured. "And I don't - I can't give you all the answers."

"Why not?" Scarlet asked, at the same time Cinder said, "I don't care! I just need some answers!" She seemed to have worked herself into agitation during those long moments sitting at the table pondering what Grand-mere knew. She leaned forward across the table, eyes narrowed and metal fingers splayed on the table. Scarlet could understand why people who didn't know Cinder would find her disgusting, maybe even scary. "You have no idea what I've been through these past ten or so years, living with Adri. I've been tormented for my prosthetics for years, physically and verbally. I've been abused and used inside Adri's household. I have a right to know about where I came from and - and who I am."

"I know," whispered Scarlet's grandmother. "I can guess what you've been through. And yes...I did know your parents. Well, your mother, to be more specific."

Cinder sucked in a breath excitedly. Scarlet watched the two in curiosity and apprehension. She didn't want Cinder to learn anything that would hurt her.

"But I can't tell you about her."

Cinder let out her breath, her angry and frustrated demeanor returning. "This is ridiculous," she fumed. "I suppose you have a very important reason why you can't tell me anything?"

"I do," Grand-mere put in. "My dear, you are in danger here in Commonwealth City. I am too. And many others...Scarlet, the Linh family, Sage, _Logan..._" She let out a wince at the last name. "Of all the places we could end up living...of course it had to be in the same place as _her..._"

Scarlet and Cinder exchanged a glance. Neither of them understood a word of what Grand-mere had said. "Ms. Benoit," Cinder started tentatively. "By _her, _do you mean my mother?"

"Of course," Grand-mere said, regaining her usual brisk and snappish manner. "And I am choosing not to tell you her identity for your safety!"

Cinder huffed. Scarlet rolled her eyes at the way the conversation kept going in circles. "All right, if you can't tell me that, can you tell me about the car accident? Because I know you have information."

"That was no car accident."

Cinder stared. "What do you mean?"

"It was a fire."

"No, it wasn't. The workers at the orphanage told me it was a car accident."

Grand-mere looked like it pained her to explain further. "They told you that because Logan and Sage told them that."

"Who the hell are Logan and Sage?" snapped Scarlet. The name Sage seemed to ring a bell...where had she heard it before?

"Men," responded Grand-mere. "They helped me with Cinder."

"Helped you with me?" Cinder asked incredulously. "What does that even mean?"

Grand-mere took a deep breath. "Cinder, they were the men who performed your surgeries."

Everyone froze. The only sounds in the room were the crickets chirping through the open window and the crackle of the fire in the sitting room. Scarlet inadvertently glanced at her friend's prosthetic. Grisly images of men cutting off the remains of limbs and fusing metal with skin flooded her mind, and she shuddered.

Cinder, who had seemed shocked for a moment, was having different thoughts. "What do you have to do with it, then?" she asked Grand-mere. "Scarlet told me you worked in the air force, not as a surgeon." Another thought seemed to occur to her. "You knew my mother, right? Are you my godmother?"

"Goodness, no," Grand-mere said, emitting a chuckle that sounded forced. "I simply took care of you in the orphanage. That was before Scarlet came here, and I was already too old to have kids. It was nice to be around children."

"But there's more." Cinder stated it like a fact, not a question. Scarlet was sure she was right. Her grandmother had damn near fainted at the sight of Cinder, it didn't make sense for her to simply be a girl from the orphanage where she had used to work.

"Do you ever wonder why you went to the orphanage, Cinder?"

What an odd question. Cinder responded in confusion, "Because my parents were dead?"

"What if your parents weren't dead?"

"But they are."

"Yes, yes." Grand-mere looked older than ever. "I think it's time for bed, girls." She stood up, clearing the tray of untouched bread and cheese.

Both Scarlet and Cinder immediately exploded with indignation. "You can't just stop there!" Scarlet yelled while Cinder desperately asked more questions. "Please, Ms. Benoit! I need to know!"

Grand-mere's face had hardened. "I have told you all I can. Please just trust me." And she turned and trooped up the stairs, leaving the girls standing there in confusion with more questions than ever.

"That was a complete waste of time," Cinder fumed. "All we learned was the names of the people who did the surgeries on me. She is one heck of a stubborn woman." The fire sputtered and shrank, the last few dying flames catching the light of Cinder's prosthetic hand. Scarlet peered out the window to the spot in the sky where the full moon gleamed like a giant eye, almost taunting them. _I am wise and all-seeing. You insignificant midgets know nothing. _

She let out a frustrated huff of agreement. "I know. But we can figure it out ourselves. We can try to track down these Logan and Sage people...interrogate them...I _know _I've heard of someone named Sage before..." At Cinder's raised eyebrow, she blushed, realizing she sounded like a secret agent in a movie. "All right, fine, we'll just forget about it and you'll never understand the mystery of your past," she retorted sarcastically.

Cinder snorted. "I wouldn't call it a mystery, but it's definitely something." She paused. "You will help me, right?" A new seriousness settled into her face, along with something like determination. "I want to know the truth."

"Of course."

In the light of the moon, standing inside the cozy little house, Scarlet suddenly reflected on how far they had come. Just a month or so ago, they hadn't even known each other. She smiled. "We make a good team."

**Hahaha...I'm still withholding the truth about Cinder's past. Obviously, it's based on the book, but with a little bit of a twist. Stay tuned for some Wolflet in the next few chapters!**


	27. Chapter 27

**To abbi aka fangirl: Thanks for stating your opinion in a respectful way! I usually just try to make my paragraphs semi-long because one of my biggest pet peeves in fanfiction is when the writer writes a single line of dialogue or action without any further description. But I see what you mean.**

**Thanks to everyone for taking the time to read my story! **

"You know, I can see why you like this," remarked Cinder from behind Scarlet. Cold, blustery wind buffeted their faces as they zoomed down the country lane toward the far-off skyline. Scarlet shivered, wishing she was wearing something more than a tank top and her well-worn red sweatshirt. Cinder seemed unaffected, throwing back her head with a loud _whoop _as Scarlet cranked the acceleration. Her pride and joy, the motorcycle was. Roaring, snarling, and pumping fumes, the vehicle was a true beauty. Not fake-beautiful like Levana or delicate-beautiful like Cress. Fierce, proud, and bold. Just like Scarlet.

As they headed toward the school, Cinder kept up a relentless stream of chatter. Pointless chatter, about who was taking who to the SnowBall and whatever. That was Scarlet's first clue that something was not all right.

"Hey, I keep meaning to ask," Scarlet said as she parked the motorcycle. The bright, almost garish red stood out among the rich kids' fancy cars painted the more desirable whites and blacks and chromes. Being able to race as fast as she could through the slower monstrosities that were cars felt like freedom. It was the perfect way to start her morning. "How's Peony? Kai told me you went to visit her yesterday."

For a fraction of a second, Cinder froze, so small of a change that someone who didn't know her as well wouldn't have noticed. Then she steamrollered on through the awkward moment, acting like nothing had happened. She didn't even acknowledge Scarlet's question.

That was the second sign.

Scarlet hurried after her friend through the halls, confused. Something seemed off with Cinder, but she couldn't tell what it was. Frowning, but deciding to ignore it for now, she went about the rest of the morning as usual.

Then at lunch, Cinder mysteriously turned deaf again when Cress asked jokingly if Pearl was mad about her part in the musical - the ugly stepsister. This caused Scarlet to say something about how similar Cinder's life was to Cinderella. "Adri's like the evil stepmother," she laughed. "Are you secretly a princess, Cinder?"

"And Pearl and Peony are the evil stepsisters!" quipped Cress.

"Except Peony's not evil," Winter interjected. They all laughed a little, but Cinder didn't even crack a smile.

"She's acting weird, isn't she," murmured Cress after the bell rang. Cress and Scarlet had P.E. in the gym, but Cinder had her engineering class in the forties wing and they parted ways in the courtyard. "Not like her to not join in on some Adri and Pearl bashing."

"I know," Scarlet said. "I hope nothing bad happened..."

But all worries about Cinder were driven from her mind after the events that took place that afternoon.

SnowBall fervor had taken over the school. Everyone was fussing about who would take who, what they would wear, who would hook up afterward. Scarlet was expecting it to be nothing special, your normal stupid school dance where someone spiked the punch and everyone just hung out with their friends the whole time. Nothing to fuss about.

Cress was dying to go, and Winter was rather excited. That left Cinder and Scarlet the odd ones out, and they couldn't kill the mood for their friends. Reluctantly, Scarlet had agreed to go. "As long as I don't have to dance," she had said decisively.

"Oh, I think you'll be surprised," Cress told her with a gleam in her eye.

The two made their way across the grounds to the gym, which was one of Scarlet's least favorite classes. She got enough physical exercise lugging equipment around on the farm, and it just seemed like a waste of time to be running and doing push-ups when most kids were barely trying. The girls slumped into the gym expecting another boring, exhausting period. Before the teacher walked in, they were already changed and sitting on the floor, ready to start their sets. They weren't expecting Ms. Hedges, the coach, to come in wearing a dark scowl instead of her usual over-peppy grin.

Upon her entrance, all the kids who had previously been messing around immediately quieted. Ms. Hedges was all enthusiastic on the outside, but she was also a stickler for discipline and everyone knew she wouldn't hesitate to hand out detentions. Her crabby demeanor only made everyone tenser.

"Unfortunately," the young woman growled, "We will be taking a slight break from our usual workout routines. This year, our principal has decided - " she cast a glare at Kai as if his father's decisions were his fault " -That all students will be properly trained in dancing proceeding our famous SnowBall."

That was one of those moments when Scarlet really wished Cinder were there. She was the only one who could've understood her feelings of dread toward dancing - well, any kind of physical contact with someone who wasn't her grandmother, actually. Cress and the kids around them looked _excited _about that prospect.

"Now," said Ms. Hedges with a big sigh, "We have a guest." She waved toward the entrance as a woman burst through with a dramatic flourish, skirt swishing around her perfect hips like a model. Scarlet, sitting in the back, saw the jaws of some of the boys drops as they ogled the beautiful woman before them.

She was clearly older than them, but her face was still beautiful in that preserved kind of way where they haven't aged a bit since they stopped puberty. Her thin, pale face was sculpted perfectly, with sharp edges and softness in all the right places. Long dark lashes framed a pair of luminous eyes, deep and mysterious like the black waters of the sea illuminated in moonlight. Scarlet blinked, eyes sliding back into focus as she realized she had been staring at her in a trance. Something began nagging at her - the way the woman smiled warmly, but her eyes stayed emotionless and cold...

She knew who the woman was before she told them.

"I am Ms. Jannali Blackburn," she announced. No greeting or anything, just her name. Her voice, warm and cold at the same time, sharp and velvety, sucked them into a rapt, attentive state that teachers never achieved. "You probably know my daughters, Channary - she graduated, but she still helps with the musical - and Levana. Oh, hello there, Kaito!" Scarlet saw him flush red in the background. "Yes, Kaito is _very _friendly with my daughter.

"Recently, I was elected president of the school board, and I am ever so grateful. I have decided that this school needs a bit of a makeover. My children have told me all about some events that go on here, and I am determined to change them for the better. Starting with the SnowBall, of course. The first decision I have made is that attendance will be mandatory." There were a few groans and moans from the shyer kids who had been looking forward to a night of relaxing, and uninterested grunts from the popular cliques who went every year.

Cress was frowning beside Scarlet, that look in her eyes that indicated that she was thinking something important. "They can't do that," she hissed in Scarlet's ear, which confused her because she thought Cress had been excited to go. "Logistically and ethically - "

"You!" Ms. Blackburn suddenly called out. To their horror, she was looking directly at them.

"M - me?" Cress squeaked.

"Yes." The woman's tone was sneering and annoyed. "I was just wondering what you have to say that's so very important. Why don't you stand up and tell us?"

This woman was no better than any mean teacher Scarlet had had. Quaking from head to toe, Cress stood up. Scarlet internally begged her friend to not say anything offensive, but of course Cress, with her firm sense of justice, had to speak up.

"Ms. Blackburn, I was just saying it doesn't make sense to make attendance mandatory since I trust you will still be expecting everyone to pay for a ticket. I understand if you want everyone to go, but you can't make them pay. It's a balance scale, isn't it? When you pay for a ticket - costing you, benefiting the school - you get to go to the dance - benefiting you, costing the school. But if you force kids to go _and _force them to pay, it's like you're making them pay to be punished, which is ethically wrong. That's similar to the actions of tyrants in ancient times - "

"Little girl, clearly you don't understand anything we are aiming for," sneered Ms. Blackburn. "Now don't interrupt me unless you have something worthwhile to say." Cress silently slumped onto the floor and hid her face, but Scarlet could tell she was crying.

"As I was saying, Commonwealth High needs to be reformed. So much money goes into donating to the school, surely we should be more than the typical dirty public high school?" Some kids nodded enthusiastically. Scarlet could tell this woman was used to having to persuade crowds. "So this year, I seek to push this school above and beyond the standards set by lesser schools. We will be implementing new methods to make Commonwealth High the picture of sophistication and academic excellence it deserves to be - "

Scarlet zoned out as the lady continued spewing fancy words no one but Cress understood and yapping on and on about how terrible they were right now and how great they would become with her help. She only snapped back to attention when she started talking about the ball.

"I aim to turn the SnowBall into a more formal occasion, with proper dancing and music. Everyone will be expected to bring a date, behave themselves like gentlemen and ladies..."

After quite a bit more talking, someone struck up the nerve to ask a question after what happened to Cress. It was one of Levana's friends. "Will the tradition of voting for a Snow Queen and Ice King be kept?"

"Wonderful you ask, I was just getting to that," Ms. Blackburn smiled. "Other parents on the board have raised the question about keeping that since we don't want you children to be getting any ideas about popularity and cliques and things like that." Scarlet barely kept herself from cracking up. "I, who has final veto power, have decided to stick with it. After all, those kids who take extra effort to get dressed up and dance and have fun with friends should be rewarded." She beamed at the crowd of kids huddled next to Kai. "And the ones who don't..." Her gaze focused on Cress and Scarlet. "Should be punished."

Scarlet shivered. She suspected this woman was not someone to cross.

"Now, now!" Ms. Blackburn clapped her hands like a primary school teacher while Ms. Hedges glowered from the back. "Time for our first formal dancing session! Everyone pair up! No, no," she glared at some boys who were standing together, "Boy-girl. You need to learn to have proper respect for the opposite sex."

Cress and Scarlet awkwardly stood there, looking anywhere other than at the boys looking for a partner. Cress eventually ran off with someone from Robotics Club, leaving Scarlet alone. She desperately hoped there was an odd number in the class.

Nope. Turning around, she saw Ms. Blackburn prodding the only remaining boy toward her...

Wolf.

_Of course. _

He was usually so quiet, she had almost forgotten he was in the same class as her. He had practically melted into the shadows while Ms. Blackburn was talking. Scarlet tried desperately to think of some way out of this situation, but she withered under Ms. Blackburn's glare. Accepting her fate, she sidled over to Wolf and stood as far from him as she could without being yelled at.

She felt tingles all across her skin at standing with him for the first time in weeks. The air between them felt charged with tension. She was aware of every tiny movement he made, of the exact shade of piercing green his eyes were, and the outdoorsy smell of him that reminded her of the farm. She could tell he wanted to say something, but he held back.

Everything seemed sped up for a few minutes in which Scarlet could hardly focus on anything except for his presence beside her. One moment Ms. Blackburn was talking, and then slow music was tinkling through the room from a speaker, and suddenly the other pairs were holding each other's hands and shoulders. And then Scarlet and Wolf were the only ones still standing there while everyone else reluctantly slow danced. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Ms. Blackburn glaring at her.

Just as she couldn't bear the pressure growing between them anymore, Wolf grabbed her hands and pulled her into the crowd of other awkwardly shuffling couples. She assumed he hadn't been paying attention either because he was as clumsy and confused as her. She could feel his gaze burning into her, while she was looking anywhere but at him. That was the thing about Wolf. He didn't shy away. He didn't hide.

Scarlet found herself aware of how much shorter and slighter she was in comparison to him. She wasn't as thin as Cress or Cinder, but compared to Wolf's broad bulk she was little more than a dainty flower. Warmth seemed to emanate from his large, comforting body and she felt herself staring at the dip of his chin, where her head would fit perfectly. She noticed a scar there, a thin, jagged white line that had been revealed when his shirt shifted.

"Er...may I?" Wolf's voice murmured softly, a rumble in her ear. He tentatively placed his hands on her waist, holding her with fingers that were Scarlet would have described as 'rough' from being beat-up after years of street fighting but also 'gentle' from the way he touched her, tentatively, like he was afraid she would push him away and punch him at any second. _Like him. Big and scary on the outside, but kind and soft on the inside. _

She forced herself to put her hands on his shoulders. Upon this closer contact, they fell into a sort of rhythm, swaying and stepping in sync - with him stepping on her toes only about five times a minute instead of twenty. It wasn't actually too bad. It felt kind of nice. She forced herself to look into his eyes, which were still studying her with as much intensity as before.

"Are you still mad at me?" he whispered so that no one else could hear. Normal Scarlet would've immediately shut down the conversation. But now, with his hands on her waist and his eyes practically glowing, she found she didn't really care anymore about what Levana and her friends thought. She could be friends with Wolf.

Scarlet finally acknowledged the little hole of emptiness that had ripped inside her when she pushed Wolf away, all those weeks ago. She missed him, simple as that. And now, it was filled.

"Wolf, I was never mad at you," she said. "I pushed you away because...I was afraid. I'm not as strong as you. It took me these last few weeks to realize and understand what your friendship means to me."

"I disagree," he murmured. "I think you're the strongest person I've ever met." She managed to hold his gaze, which was steady and blazing, not tentative anymore.

"Look at you, laying on the flattery," she teased, and the moment broke. She stepped a little bit closer, just to get nearer that warmth that burned from him. She sensed that he had also changed in the last few weeks. Normally, when she looked at him, she could see the other side of him hovering just beneath the surface, the violence, the anger. But now...all she saw was her Wolf.

* * *

"Scarlet!"

From a hundred yards away, the girl snapped up at the sound of her grandmother's voice. Leaping out of the stream and grabbing her shoes, Scarlet raced back toward her house, pushing her legs to pump faster. _If I can just get there before she does...I can pretend I was in the garden..._

No luck. Even if she had made it in time, her bare, muddy feet and sopping jeans were a dead giveaway.

Grand-mere's lips were pursed in disapproval. "Scarlet dear, you know I don't like you going out there at night. The current is especially strong at this time, and the rocks are sharp...anything could happen."

Scarlet rolled her eyes. "I think I'm capable of taking care of myself. And anyway, I needed to get out of the house. Fresh air just soothes me."

Sighing, Grand-mere gave a tiny smile that indicated her granddaughter was forgiven. "You're exactly like I was as a child."

"Crazy and proud of it!" she smirked.

"You seem unusually happy today," her grandmother said, chuckling as Scarlet immediately tried to squash her bright smile. "It's a nice change from your usual teenager grumpiness. Anything happen today? Meet a boy?"

Her face flamed as red as her hair. Grand-mere knew her too well. "What are you doing?" Scarlet asked to change the subject.

"I'm about to leave for Sector," Grand-mere explained. "Remember, I'm visiting an old friend."

"Oh yeah," Scarlet vaguely remembered something about that.

"I'll be home this weekend," she promised. "I trust you'll be fine, independent young lady you are." Grand-mere started toward the car. "Love you!" she called over her shoulder.

"Love you too," mumbled Scarlet, already halfway inside the house. She was looking forward to calling Wolf...

Her grandmother paused. "Remember, no boys in your bedroom!" she called, half-joking, half-serious.

That time, Scarlet fully turned around. "Grand-mere!" she cried, scandalized yet laughing. Her grandmother only winked as she waved one more time and climbed into the car.

She truly loved her grandmother so much. She didn't know what she would do without her.

**Please follow, favorite, and review! **


	28. Chapter 28

**If I can get** just** one more favorite we'll be in double digits! (which seems like a lot to me, lol) I seriously hope that there are more than 9 people who like this story. Hope you enjoy this chapter! Thanks, as always, to the ever-supportive xXPokePotterIslandXx.**

A small wave here and there. A brush of fingers when they both reached for the same book in the library. A private smile in the hallway as if they were the only two people in the world who knew a certain secret. They had real conversations now, not the awkward, stilted interactions of a few months ago. Scarlet and Wolf were friends.

And boy, did she need friends at the moment. She wasn't sure what was going on with them, but something was off. Scarlet could tell that Cinder noticed the way her eyes lingered on crowds, looking for Wolf, but Cinder didn't say anything about it. Well, Cinder didn't say anything these days. Winter was just...distant. The glow of having friends had worn off of all of them. Scarlet knew that she should do something, but she was putting off the awkwardness. Just like with Wolf, she never wanted to engage in the deep talks. She wasn't the kind of person to confide her feelings and get all mushy.

Only Cress was still somewhat there. But even though Scarlet felt their relationship hadn't changed one bit, Cress had changed. She didn't seem like the bubbly romantic she had been before, always believing the best of people. Something had rocked her foundations, forced her to change her mindset. Whether that was good or bad, she couldn't tell yet.

"I don't know," she replied when Scarlet asked her what had happened, not really expecting an honest answer but receiving one all the same. Some things about Cress never changed. "It's just...it was the look in Jannali Blackburn's eyes when she stared at me. It's the big kids in the hallway who push me. It's everyone who acts like I'm invisible. It's the people who didn't clap for me at the awards ceremony last year. It's the people who forget my name and think I'm ugly and shrimpy and pretend to help me because they want something from me..." Voice trailing off, her fists clenched and she got that look in her blue eyes that reminded Scarlet of a Chihuahua pretending to be cute and tiny before it bit you.

"Is this about Thorne?" she prompted gently. She hadn't managed to shake the story out of Cress yet, but when she did she was going to hunt down that double-crossing nincompoop and punch him all the way to outer space. "What did he do to you?"

Cress shrugged. "It doesn't matter." Smirking, she admitted, "More like what did _I_ do to him. I caught him doing something and sort of yelled at him."

Scarlet laughed. "Serves him right. But seriously, you are okay? I know you..." she trailed off, thinking that Cress wouldn't react too kindly if she mentioned her megacrush on Thorne.

"Honestly? I'm glad it happened," Cress said matter-of-factly. "It helped me learn that not everyone is as amazing on the inside as they seem on the outside." She made it clear the matter was closed.

"You are," Scarlet grinned, trying to preserve their light mood. "It's honestly not fair. You get that gorgeous thick long hair and a pretty face and a kinder heart than anyone I've ever met. _And _you're a genius."

Laughing, Cress punched her on the arm. "Says the girl with those beautiful red curls and a perfect body. And you have a boy who actually likes you back. I have to admit, I don't trust him, but if he's good enough for you..."

"That is so not true," snorted Scarlet. "And hey...you said _like me back_? When did I ever say I like Wolf?" The notion seemed ridiculous. She barely knew Wolf, after all. And yet...why did that thought feel so out of place, and yet so right at the same time?

What did it even mean to 'like' someone? Was it the happiness she felt whenever she saw Wolf? The way the room blazed brighter when he was in it? The way his eyes held her and kept her captive?

_Oh dear._

"I can tell," Cress told her superiorly. "I've given up dreaming of a relationship for myself, but I _am _still a hopeless romantic."

* * *

Thorne was in a funk.

A not-talking-to-anyone, ignoring-his-highly-annoying-girlfriend-that-he-only-kept-around-for-kissing, skipping-homework kind of funk.

He had seriously contemplated sneaking out at midnight to go to a bar or a strip club - supposedly off-limits, but of course, that didn't stop him. That was what his friends did all the time when they were bored or in a bad mood.

But he knew, no matter how hot of a partner he picked up, no matter how good certain activities felt, he would only be able to see one thing in his head.

Cress's face. Eyes welling up with tears. Screaming at him about how despicable he was.

Thorne had barely managed to boost his grades in order to stay in the play; he had gone to his teachers one day and practically begged for tutoring. His parents were pleased enough, but Thorne felt miserable. For the first time in his life, he was...embarrassed.

It wasn't embarrassing when his best friend in middle school shoved him into a rosebush in his elderly neighbor's backyard, naked, after a particularly rough game of Truth or Dare. It wasn't embarrassing when a teacher in eighth grade forced him to stand at the whiteboard in front of the whole class and write _I will try harder _over and over again. It wasn't embarrassing when the entire cast of the musical laughed at him for a squeaky voice crack in the middle of his solo.

Thorne had spent his life polishing the surface. If people saw something good on the outside, it didn't matter what was on the inside. He had always thought that people got too caught up in feelings and emotions and mushy-gushy stuff. If something bad or embarrassing happened, he could laugh it off. It didn't matter what he really felt like. He could always bury it deep down, where nobody would ever see it.

But something about Cress had changed him. Thorne felt a sting of guilt every time he manipulated a girl or tricked someone into giving him money. She was right. Kate Fallow had been right. His teachers and parents were right. He was nothing more than a liar. He was fake.

_Maybe the nerds and outcasts are the best people, _he thought. _They're the only ones who see everyone for who they truly are. _

His phone beeped yet again. Kai. Thorne allowed himself a second of pleasure that at least someone still cared about him, before sinking back down into his self-pity and hatred, leaving his friend on read. The bright sunlight didn't penetrate through his dark curtains, closed even though it was the middle of the day, behind which he was sitting in the shadows. He hadn't showered or changed in days and probably smelled terrible. He felt like a shadow of his former self, the boy who had painstakingly paid attention to his hair and outfit and smell.

Glancing at the screen of his phone, he checked the date. December 1. Only two weeks until the SnowBall. He had been feigning sickness for the past week, which he couldn't recount as anything but a haze of numbness and exhaustion. He groaned at the thought of getting dressed up and putting his mask on again, an evening of fakeness and lies with friends that he thought were shallow and boring.

_I'll get out of bed tomorrow, _Thorne decided. He couldn't go on like this forever, could he? _But I can't face them...especially not Cress. Maybe the day after that? Or the day after that...or the day after that..._

* * *

"Come on! It's a free period! Endless possibilities! We could sneak into the city, play pranks on the popular kids..." Wolf protested, hitting her on the shoulder lightly. "We can't waste it."

"Exactly, that's why we're going to study," Scarlet insisted, smiling all the same. It was impossible to stay strict and commanding when Wolf was pleading with her. "Aren't you the one who's trying to bring your grades up so that you can get into college?"

Wolf sighed. They were outside of the gym in one of the small courtyards that branched out from the hallway, boughs of plants dead and cold at the moment. Everyone else was huddled inside to conserve warmth, but they had left the minute Ms. Hedges announced that it was a free period in the absence of Ms. Blackburn. The cold gusts were sharp and tingly on Scarlet's face and neck, but when she positioned herself in the shadow of Wolf his bulk protected her from the worst of the winds. As an added bonus, his wild, almost animalistic smell, like he ran through forests and climbed mountains every day, filled the air when she huddled close. Others would've found it repulsive, but it reminded Scarlet of the farm.

"I know, but I've been studying so hard lately. Can't I take a break?" he curled his lips and widened his eyes in what he probably thought was puppy dog eyes, but to Scarlet it made him look like a demented baby wolf cub. Still, she found herself softening. It was true, he really seemed to want to make a better life for himself. As far as her knowledge went, he hadn't been taking part in the usual antics of the Wolf Pack, and at school he was working much harder.

"All right, fine," she relented, "but we're not doing any of the crazy stuff I know you have in mind."

So that was how they ended up strolling through the school, talking and laughing and darting out of sight and giggling like maniacs when a teacher walked by. Talking to Wolf just felt so...easy. With everyone else, even her best friends, Scarlet was constantly filtering herself, cutting herself off, not wanting to say something that would embarrass her. But with him, it felt like she could say anything.

Tucked into a quiet corner behind a planter, Wolf told her about his life growing up. His mother, Maha Kesley, who tried her hardest to make a better life for Wolf and his brother. His childhood in poor schools and playing football on cracked streets. The way he talked, his tone getting less rough and more wistful like he was reminiscing about better times, made Scarlet's heart squeeze. She had also had a hard childhood, but at least she had Grand-mere now.

"Where was it?" she asked. "I mean, where did you grow up?"

"A little town called Sector," he responded. "Just an hour's drive from here."

Starting in surprise, Scarlet told him, "That's where my grandmother is now. She said she was visiting an old friend."

She might have been imagining it, but it looked like a shadow passed over his face. "What?" she asked.

He rearranged his features, but Scarlet detected a tinge of worry darkening his eyes. "Just...it can be dangerous there." She wanted to ask what that dramatic proclamation meant, but decided to drop the subject. Wolf was staring into the distance, body tensed like he was getting ready to attack."

"Anyways..." Anything to keep him talking. She wanted to preserve this quiet moment between them for as long as possible. Pulling out her phone, she turned it on and went to the Photos app. "That's me and my grandmother." Scarlet held it up to show him. She hadn't looked at these photos in ages and only now did she see how cringy she had been as a nine-year-old. She was grinning at the photographer, showcasing several gaps in her teeth, and sticking bunny ears behind her grandmother's head.

"You were so cute," Wolf teased, looking back and forth from her to the picture as if trying to compare them.

Scarlet grimaced. The two scrolled through all of her photos, dozens more of little Scarlet. They changed, some at the farm, others in the city, some by herself, others beside Grand-mere. But no matter where she was, she was always beaming.

"I was happier back then, I think," she confided in Wolf. "As you grow up, you have more responsibilities, more complicated choices...when you're little, all you want is to grow up, but now I realize that it's not so fabulous."

"I get what you mean," Wolf sighed. "If I could go back in time, I would tell Wolf Junior not to be so desperate to be grown-up and cool. I wish I could take it all back. The drugs, the gang fights, everything..." Scarlet stayed quiet, knowing that he wouldn't want pity or reassurance. They thought in silence for a few minutes.

Scarlet broke the serious mood. She held up her camera. "Can I take a picture of you?" she asked. The pale light from the weak sun and the shadows from the topiary falling on his face highlighted the angles and lines of it. His olive skin looked darker, making the sharp white scars on his neck and jaw stand out. He wasn't handsome in the way that boys like Kai and Thorne and Jacin were, almost too perfect to be real. Wolf looked like the kind of person you would find out in the sun, leaning on a fence he had just built. She could almost imagine that the muscles in his arms and the scars on his face were from the farm work, not street fighting.

"Absolutely not." His reply startled her. She looked at him, confused and a little hurt. "I don't do pictures," Wolf was growling. "No one wants to look at me for longer than necessary, much less keep a picture of me."

"That's not true," she whispered. Why would he think that? He was beautiful.

He held out his hands. "I'm huge," he said. "I'm too muscular. I'm scarred. My face looks like a wolf. Everything is off. I - I look like a monster." His voice broke on the last word. Suddenly, Scarlet understood Wolf better than ever. He hadn't joined the Wolf Pack just because he wanted to be cool and do drugs. He joined because it was the only place where people would accept him.

"Not to me," Scarlet insisted. "Wolf...you're not a monster." The words sounded even lamer out loud than they had in her head. How could she put what she thought about him into words? How do you describe a relationship that goes deeper than the surface?

He held her gaze. "Not everyone thinks so. I can tell your friends don't trust me." Scarlet flushed. That was true.

"But, Wolf..." she tried one last time. "Does it really matter? I think you're a good person. Forget about everyone else." On a whim, she took his hand. "Just focus on me," Scarlet whispered.

His eyes focused on her, studying her, examining her like he was deciding whether to trust her or lash out again. Once again, she felt her heart twist for him. Wolf was so, so much more than a troubled, poor boy. He was something more...everything he had been through just made him more special.

"I'll try to," he finally said softly. They sat for a moment, Scarlet furiously trying to think of something to say that would break the tension.

"Want a tomato?" she eventually asked. This morning, she had picked some fresh off the vine.

Wolf looked at her like she had just asked if he wanted a genetically modified fruit grown on the moon. "A...tomato?"

Was it possible to feel any stupider? "Yeah," she mumbled. "I remembered that you like them - " And then they were laughing harder than ever, practically cracking their ribs. It was a wonder that no teachers came outside to reprimand them. Scarlet managed to calm herself, but Wolf was still grinning.

"See?" she said, reaching up to touch his face. "That's the smile I've been looking for." Her fingers brushed his lips, then trailed over one of the scars on his jaw. He tensed, and Scarlet jumped back, worried that she had crossed a line. She looked up tentatively, bracing herself for shock or disgust in his face.

He was standing stock-still like she had paralyzed him with her touch. Wolf gaped at her, mouth open to reveal unusually sharp canine teeth.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. If there was anything she didn't want to do, it was breaking his trust just when she had gotten him to open up to her. "I don't know - "

"Stop apologizing." Now his eyes were scrunched up, hiding their vibrancy, as if he was fighting an internal battle. "I just - I need to tell you - "

Abandoned on the ground, Scarlet's phone rang. The moment shattered as both of them flinched in surprise.

The second she saw the caller I.D., she knew something was very, very wrong.

**I love writing Wolflet, they're so cute. Hope you enjoyed that! I promise I'll have the next chapter out as soon as possible!**


	29. Chapter 29

_Incoming call from Sector Community Hospital, _the screen of Scarlet's phone blinked up at them. Trembling, she reached down for it. It was like the world had frozen around them. The bell rang to signal the end of this period, but they both stayed still, trapped in their world, dreading the bad news that the person on the other end of the line had for them.

As Scarlet gingerly picked it up, she felt like she had been transported back to the past. That day, so many years ago, when she had been in Wolf's place, watching her grandmother wince and pick up the phone. They had informed the Benoits that Luc, her father, was in the hospital with alcohol poisoning. Despite their rocky past, Grand-mere and Scarlet had raced to see him. No matter how far off the track Luc had veered, he was still Grand-mere's son and Scarlet's father.

But this was different. Scarlet could barely breathe for fear of what had happened. Her grandmother was her only caretaker, the only person in the world who knew her inside and out. If something really bad had happened...

"Hello?" came a brisk voice as she accepted the call. For some reason, Scarlet put the phone on speakerphone so that Wolf could hear too.

"Hello," she managed to croak out. It felt like her throat was coated in sawdust.

"This is the Sector Community Hospital," the lady said in an almost bored tone as if these were lines she had memorized and repeated over and over. "Are you Scarlet Benoit, granddaughter of Michelle Benoit?"

"_Yes_," Scarlet said, impatient to know what had happened. "Is my grandmother okay?"

The lady ignored the question. "It is not part of our usual routine to call the _granddaughter _of the patient, but we called Michelle Benoit's son and he was very rude. Didn't want to be bothered, insisted that we call you."

Scarlet ground her teeth, partly with impatience for the secretary, partly with annoyance at her father. That sounded exactly like her father - expect Grand-mere to rush to him when _he _was in the hospital, and pay her back by ignoring her when she got injured.

"At 9 o'clock this morning, the first of December, Michelle Benoit was hit by a car on Lyon Avenue, while she was crossing the street - "

Scarlet dropped the phone. The words bounced around in her head, but she couldn't make them seem true. The lady kept on yammering information, not sounding the least bit sympathetic.

"Michelle Benoit has sustained major injuries, while the perpetrators of the accident remain currently unidentified and, as far as we now, uninjured - " Wolf leaned down and pounded the button to hang up the call. She barely registered the way his fingers brushed hers comfortingly as he slipped the phone into her hand. Scarlet felt the sudden urge to smash it.

_Deep breaths. _In, out. In, out. Nothing good would come of destroying everything in sight and screaming to the heavens. She had to rationalize. Focus on the next step. Make a plan. According to that cursed lady, her grandmother was still alive. Instinctively, she stood up and brushed the dirt off her jeans, internally taking inventory of everything in her backpack.

"I'm coming with you."

The words were so sudden, she didn't realize who had spoken until she turned around and saw Wolf's intense eyes. There was a certain fierceness about the lines of his face, sharp and determined and ready.

"Coming with me?"

"I can tell you're about to do something." _Something stupid, _his eyes seemed to say. "I'm not going to let you go alone. I'm coming with you."

"I need to see my grandmother," Scarlet said firmly, forcing her voice not to wobble. There would be time for grief later. "I don't care about skipping school. I'm going to Sector."

"And I'm coming," he responded shortly. "You've never been there. You need me to guide you."

"I don't need you for anything," she snapped, fed up with his irritating heroism. "What you need to do is go back to class. You won't be able to get into college if you cut class again, remember? And you have play practice."

"You have play practice too."

"Well, I don't care. The director hates me."

"How are you going to get to Sector?" Wolf argued. "Think about it. It's only an hour's drive, but you don't have a car. I can help you."

"I have a motorcycle," Scarlet told him, already turning away.

But Wolf was shaking his head. "Different rules in Sector. Minors under eighteen can't drive motorcycles."

"Well, fine then," she grumbled, secretly glad that he had prevented her from getting arrested. Worry for her grandmother threatened to make her collapse with anxiety, but she pushed it down. "What's your brilliant plan?"

* * *

Twenty minutes later, they were slinking through the bushes surrounding the back cluster of classrooms and the field. Scarlet had never been out here, and she wasn't interested in coming again. It was clear that no one took care of the decrepit space, which was littered with empty beer bottles and cigarettes from the students who cut class to come back here, as well as all kinds of random filth that had accumulated.

Wolf seemed familiar with it, which didn't surprise Scarlet. He guided her expertly around a big patch of weeds with enough spikes to rival cacti and a minefield of shards of broken glass. Scarlet itched with frustration to be racing toward Sector, going to her grandmother as fast as she could. It had been Wolf's stupid idea to sneak out like this. She imagined Grand-mere all alone in the hospital, with her son refusing to see her. Scarlet was her only hope.

But she also kept in mind her grandmother's persona. She was no weak damsel waiting for someone to come save her. Long years serving in the air force and working dawn to dusk on the farm had toughened Grand-mere. A few injuries couldn't bring her down. _She'll be okay, _Scarlet told herself.

"Here we are," Wolf said, gesturing to a hole in the chain-link fence surrounding the school. It was a smart place to sneak out. The thick bushes and snaking ivy made it nearly impossible to see this section of the fence, much less the hole. In a gentlemanly manner, her companion gestured for her to go through first.

They exited onto a back street. Once again, Wolf took the lead. "Used to sneaking out?" she asked, sounding more judgmental than she had been intending.

He shrugged, muscles on his back rippling. Scarlet could understand why the Wolf Pack had wanted him as their leader. He was such a powerful, intimidating figure. Muscular and hulking, yet agile and speedy. People in the street darted out of the way as Wolf loomed over them.

But the one thing that Scarlet had learned throughout this year was that the inside matters more than the outside.

They walked in peace for the next few blocks, each silent in their thoughts. It was hard to believe that just a few minutes before, they had been laughing and joking in the courtyard without a care in the world. Before that one call had changed everything.

Wolf stopped so abruptly that Scarlet bumped into him, stumbling from the impact against his body, which felt like a brick wall. She swayed for a second before Wolf turned and grabbed her wrist without even looking back. He kept his eyes on their surroundings.

"What is it?" Scarlet hissed, trying to figure out what he was looking at. All she saw were the lower-class residential apartments of Commonwealth, the same brown and gray houses and cracked sidewalks all around.

But Wolf wasn't focusing on her. Scarlet directed her attention to him, trying to track his expressions. First his eyes narrowed, then his eyebrows squinted, and finally, his lips curled in a snarl. Only one word was uttered. "_Ran._"

Scarlet froze. Wolf's brother? What was he doing here? On closer inspection of their surroundings, using all of her senses, she finally picked up what Wolf had noticed. A faint smell hung in the air, of sweat and filth and cigarette smoke.

Ran Kesley emerged from an alley ten yards behind them, smirking. "Losing your senses, big brother?" he sneered, shaking greasy hair out of his face and shooting a swarthy smile at Scarlet. "All that time away from the Pack making you lose your skills?"

"Ran," Wolf growled. His breath whistled through his nostrils as he fought to keep a clear head. Scarlet backed away. She sensed him about to leap out and pound his brother into the ground. "Leave us alone."

"Not until I find out where you're going," Ran said airily. "Hmm. Maybe you're going to do something with the Pack? Oh wait, that's right. _You're not in the Pack anymore._" Hatred flashed in his eyes with the last sentence. "I never would've believed. _Alpha _Ze'ev Kesley, once the pride of the Pack, now a deserter. You think your pretty little friend will like you more if you leave the bad boys behind?"

Scarlet flinched. Ran seemed to enjoy adding more fuel to the fire, getting Wolf madder and madder until he exploded. She could tell something bad would happen if this got too far.

"I'm not trying to impress anyone," Wolf snapped. "I left the Wolf Pack because of power-hungry, violent, arrogant scumbags like you." And then he made a hand gesture that would've gotten Scarlet a spanking. At the thought of her Grand-mere, her stomach squirmed. They had to leave. They were wasting time.

"Oh, Ze'ev," said Ran with a patronizing sigh, "What has become of you? What would our dear mother think of you, resorting to crude language like some street rat?" He slunk over to Scarlet, who shrank away in repulsion as he put a hairy arm around her. His eyes had the same piercing quality as Wolf's, but they were black and cold. "Pretty girl, you don't have to go with him. You would be much better off with a different Pack member. We may be violent, but we have some sense of _honor. _We stick together. Wolf here - he's twisted. He'll stab you in the back. He'll earn your trust and then abandon you."

Ran knew exactly the right words to say to play off all of her doubts and fears, make her doubt everything. Her friends' words echoed in her head. Cress and Cinder, the smartest girls she knew, didn't trust him. As she had gotten to know him, Wolf had seemed like he wasn't the best with relationships, like he would run away the second it became too much for him. _No. _She shook her head to clear it. That was Ran trying to confuse her. She knew Wolf, despite the many doubts in her head.

"Scarlet." She heard Wolf as if from far away, but there was so much despair in his voice that she immediately snapped out of her mental haze. "Your gun."

Scarlet frowned at him. What did that mean? He couldn't possibly want her to shoot Ran? But as she felt for the place where the gun was always tucked into her waistband, the cold metal against her skin always giving her a sense of security, she realized that it was gone. Turning her eyes upward, she was confronted by a scene she never would've imagined she'd see.

Ran. Holding her gun. Wolf, ten paces away, staring at him hard as his brother lifted the gun slowly to chest level, then to the height of his head. Fear dawned in Scarlet as she realized that he had pocketed it when he put his arm around her. This felt like a scene from the movies, but she knew it wasn't. Wolf was in danger and she was the only one who could help him.

"You wouldn't," whispered Wolf, and Scarlet was surprised to see not a bit of fear in his eyes. "Your own brother."

"I think you'd be surprised at what I would and wouldn't do anymore, _Alpha,_" Ran told him coldly. Scarlet opened her mouth to scream for help, but she felt locked in place, paralyzed with fear and shock. The gloomy buildings behind them cast odd shadows over Ran, enhancing the shadows and angles of his face so that he looked like a madman with his gleaming eyes.

"I'm not the little brother who took orders from you," Ran went on. "I've grown up. I've found my place in the Pack. And when I kill you, I will be the next Alpha." Scarlet shivered. He sounded like he really meant it. He was planning on devoting his whole life to this Pack. This was his future. He was leaving his old life behind - and with that, severing all familial ties.

A little smile played around the corners of Wolf's mouth. He stepped forward. "Fine, then." He smiled at his brother, but it wasn't a friendly smile. It was more like the smile you give someone during a game of chicken, daring them to do something crazy. "Go on. The Pack hates me. _You _hate me. I'm not going to get into college. Ma, if she hasn't starved to death yet, would never accept me again after these past few years. I don't have anything worth staying alive for."

"Wolf - " Scarlet cried, but her voice broke along with her heart, which was crumbling from the force of those words. Did he really think that? Did he believe that no one cared about him anymore?

He glanced at her, but she couldn't decipher his expression. She desperately hoped he had some sort of plan. Somehow, Wolf's facade of bravery seemed to make Ran falter. As the two brothers stared at each other, Wolf challenging, Ran defiant but also nervous. Everything had locked down into this one moment. Scarlet's breathing was shallow, the sun overhead flashing dizzyingly in her eyes as she looked around frantically for help. The streets were deserted, the morning traffic long gone.

"Scarlet, run," came Wolf's voice. No longer brash and reckless, the hollow sound echoed despondently down the street. His eyes captured hers, that same green stare she had been so entranced in from the moment they met. He looked like he was pleading with her to run, to save herself.

"I'm not leaving you," Scarlet said softly, knowing he couldn't hear her. She planted her feet resolutely on the asphalt.

Wolf tried again. "Please, Scarlet - "

But the distraction had been exactly what Ran was waiting for. Malice dawned in his eyes as he mustered up the certain kind of hatred you have to have to shoot someone, especially a loved one, when your actions are clear and definable and not masked by the bloodthirsty chaos of war.

His hands clenched around the gun. Scarlet lunged forward, needing to do something, anything -

She knew before she had run two paces that there was no getting that gun out of Ran's hands. He had set his mind to something and he was going to follow through. Force wouldn't work. Her gun was gone. The only weapon she had left was her voice.

"Ran, he's your brother!" she screamed in a last act of desperation, pouring all her fear for Wolf and worry for her grandmother and anger toward Ran into her voice. "HE'S YOUR BROTHER!" Somehow, her words had an effect on Ran, and his grip on the gun slackened, and the barrel dipped down -

For a second she thought he had given up.

Then the gun went off.

And Scarlet's stomach collapsed in on itself, and she sank to the ground, giving in to a shrill scream that served no purpose other than letting her wild despair out -

Behind Ran, Wolf had collapsed, rolling across the hard ground. Scarlet couldn't see or think clearly, but she knew that she had to help Wolf. Her breath caught in her throat as the unmistakable scent of blood wafted through the air.

But then Wolf was springing up, lunging for his brother -

Both tumbled to the ground in a blur of limbs, guttural snarls issuing from their throats. Scarlet had no idea how Wolf was okay, but she decided to forget about that for the moment. As muscles rippled and knuckles slammed, in her mind flashed a bizarre image of two wolves out in the wild fighting for dominance. This wasn't a normal brotherly brawl. Wolf and Ran were fighting like animals. Fighting to kill, or at least injure.

As Scarlet reached them, head still swimming from the confusion and chaos of what had just happened, Wolf managed to grab the barrel of the gun and twist it violently out of Ran's hands. Before, the fight had been too close-range for Ran to shoot. But now Wolf had a clear shot at his brother's head. Scarlet cried out again, but Wolf tossed it away. She felt a glimmer of relief. Wolf would never be like his brother.

"The gun, Scar," Wolf croaked, ducking as Ran's fist lashed out again. "Get - it!" Scarlet stumbled over to the gun - _her _gun, actually. It was strange how much more hostile it looked, now that someone had been shot with it. It was no longer a safety measure, a last-resort. It was a weapon. She reached for it, hoping Wolf would be able to subdue Ran soon and they could run.

A weak groan from Wolf behind her told her that the tables had turned.

To her horror, Ran was crawling toward her, clearly weakened, but still strong enough to wrestle the gun from her and shoot both of them. With newfound courage, Scarlet stomped on the grimy, long-nailed hand reaching for the gun and kicked him in the face. Finally grabbing the gun, Scarlet whirled around and aimed it down at Ran. Her hands shook. Despite her bravado, she wasn't sure she would be able to shoot if the time came.

Ran bared his teeth, sensing her weakness. But he never got the chance to test her limits.

Wolf, sneaking up behind him, sent him flying with a well-placed hit.

For a moment Scarlet and Wolf stared at each other over his brother's body. Wolf was covered in sweat, grimy from rolling across the ground, and his chest was heaving. For a moment, she thought she saw the same dangerous, violent gleam that had been in Ran's eyes when he aimed the gun. But the moment passed, and Wolf was brave, determined Wolf again, ready to do anything to protect her.

She gasped when she noticed the trickle of blood inching down his leg, droplets plopping down like a leak from a pipe. "It's all right," Wolf mumbled, self-consciously wiping the blood off with the bottom of his shirt. "It barely grazed me."

Scarlet bit her lip. "How did you dodge it?" she asked. "He changed direction at the very last second. There was no way you could've seen it in time."

"Experience," Wolf said grimly, "From the Pack and from the gangs in my old town. But I know my brother. I knew he would be too cowardly to follow through. I expected him to aim for my leg instead."

Wolf walked over to his brother, still crumpled to the ground. "We could kill you," he told him. "But we're not going to, because I'm not as idiotic and cowardly as you. Good riddance."

He went back to Scarlet. "What time is it?" he asked. "We have a train to catch, I believe."

Scarlet stumbled over her words. "H - how do you act so casual about this? You were almost killed and you just disowned your brother. I mean..." She trailed off when Wolf looked at her somberly.

"Fights are normal to me," he said roughly, but Scarlet heard an undertone of pain in his voice. "Now, off to Sector. Time for me to relive a whole lot of bad memories."

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	30. Chapter 30

**Yay! We're at thirty chapters! Thanks for all the reviews!**

Scarlet would've enjoyed the train ride if she hadn't been so anxious. The view out the windows was vast and sweeping, showing landscapes she had only ever seen in pictures. They had left the city and were out in the wilderness now, occasionally passing small towns in between huge stretches of forests, marshes, and cliffs. Traveling was the kind of luxury she and Grand-mere could never afford - not just because of money, they also couldn't leave the farm untended for more than a day or so. Since neither of them had a car and taxis were too expensive, they had agreed on this, but now Scarlet was regretting it.

Wolf had assured her that the ride to a larger city near Sector would take two hours at most, followed by a half-hour drive to Sector. But first, the conductor of the train had to issue public health warnings on behalf of the new type of chickenpox, which had continued to spread in the past few weeks. And then there was some sort of mechanical issue with the train and they had to wait for half an hour. Nearly three hours later, when they were finally in Artemisia, there was a checkpoint for chickenpox testing everyone had to go through and get their blood tested.

By the time they had left the station and called a taxi, it was nearly five o'clock - time for the rush-hour traffic. Scarlet sat stiffly in the backseat, fidgeting with her sweatshirt strings. Wolf was quiet as well, glancing at her in a concerned way now and then. They hadn't talked much on the train, apart from Wolf cursing repeatedly because of how small the seats were and Scarlet snapping at him to shut up. All she wanted to do was give her brain a rest from worrying, but long car rides have a funny habit of making you think too much.

She replayed their conversation from earlier, Wolf finally opening up and telling her about his past. She remembered his refusal to let her take a picture of him. His motives confused her. He had told Scarlet that he just wanted to have a better life from now on - a normal life. But he still seemed determined not to let anyone see the real him, under the surface.

_Because he's trying to hide the real him, _she thought with a shiver. During the fight, the rage that had been unleashed when he jumped on Ran made her uneasy. Just because he had left the Pack didn't mean he could smother his instincts. She tried to tell herself that she was being paranoid. But the words Ran had said before she realized he was just distracting her were what chilled Scarlet. _You can't trust him._

"We're here," Wolf said, cutting into the silence so bluntly that Scarlet jumped. It was 6:30 and the daylight was fading fast, but she could see the shadowy homes and buildings spiraling out in clusters from the main road. They bounced over several bumps in the road. The driver's knuckles were white on the steering wheel. Scarlet could imagine he was regretting his decision to drive them here.

Beside her, Wolf was muttering under his breath - whether relaying information to her or reliving bad memories, she wasn't sure. "That pothole. Big mining accident when I was nine. Explosion killed twelve people. The crack...a car crash, I think. And that spot..."

"Please stop," moaned Scarlet, sinking into her seat and clutching the seatbelt. "I'm going to throw up if I have to hear the gory backstories." Wolf awkwardly patted her on the shoulder and fell quiet. She knew that the churning in her stomach wasn't just because of the bumps. Somewhere close, her grandmother was hanging on to her life.

"Welcome to Sector," he said a few minutes later. They were nearing the main buildings of the town. Scarlet straightened up to get a glimpse of Wolf's hometown. Scarlet glanced at him, sensing waves of tension emanating from him. She had been so preoccupied with thinking about her grandmother that she hadn't thought about Wolf and how he would deal with being back here.

Remembering something from earlier that day, Scarlet sat up straight. "You said it was dangerous here," she told Wolf. "What does that mean? Is that why my grandmother got hit by a car when she's the most careful person ever?"

Wolf flinched. "I..." Scarlet noticed his leg was jogging up and down the way it did in class. It usually meant he was full of energy and couldn't stand to sit still. But sometimes it meant that he was nervous.

Scarlet studied him, focusing on her thoughts to avoid getting nauseous again. "Your scars..." she said, putting the pieces together, "After the fight with Ran, you mentioned...your old town. You said it had helped you get better at fighting. There're gangs around here, aren't there? And you were part of one."

Wolf still didn't meet her eyes. "Yes, I was. But it wasn't as bad back then. We never called ourselves a gang. We were just friends who were a little...rowdy. But your grandmother...yes, she was most likely a victim of their reckless, drunk driving."

Biting her lip, Scarlet asked, "Remind me why you came to Commonwealth City?"

He finally met her eyes, and Scarlet could tell it pained him to think about this. But she needed the truth. She needed to know that Wolf was someone she could trust. She needed a friend.

"Well, it was mostly because of Coach Jael. Our football team was one of the best in the state. Coach saw me at one of the games and said he wanted to recruit me for Commonwealth. I didn't want to leave my parents. I remember I put up a fight. But Ma wanted me to go...she told me I would have a better life." He stared off into the distance. "She didn't know all the details about the gangs, but she still had an idea of what Ran and I got up to. She wanted to steer us onto a better path before it was too late. But it obviously didn't work."

"Well, you turned out fine, didn't you?" Scarlet said encouragingly. "You showed your brother that you were choosing the better path. You chose me." She cringed at her unbelievably sappy words.

Lost in thought, Wolf didn't answer. The taxi driver was smirking at them, leering with crooked teeth at Scarlet. "Pay attention to the road," she snapped, shooting him a fierce glare.

Minutes later, they arrived in front of the Sector Community Hospital in the center of town. Scarlet frowned at the small, unremarkable building with closed-off windows and plain, weathered gray walls. The town was eerily quiet, wreathed in shadows as the sun faded behind the foothills. Looking around, Scarlet saw that all the buildings looked like this one: not broken-down, but not in fabulous condition either.

"I know it's not much," Wolf said, looking wary.

Scarlet shrugged and turned to pay the taxi driver, who thankfully did not charge them extra for the hours of traffic they had sat through. They were almost done with the transaction when the sounds of heavy footfalls reached her ears. Wolf immediately tensed as if getting ready for battle and spun to face the person. The taxi driver shot one terrified look over his shoulder, then sped off without handing Scarlet her change.

The man standing over them wasn't brawny like Wolf or wild-looking like Ran. He was rather lean, with tall, graceful stature. His dark eyes flashed as he took the two of them in, an amused smile playing around his perfect lips. Dark waves of hair tumbled around his brow and brushed the shoulders of his red uniform. He seemed familiar, somehow. It took Scarlet a second to pinpoint why he seemed so intimidating. Then she realized it was his eyes - the way he stared at them with cruel amusement.

A smile remained on his lips, but he was looking at Wolf with murder in his eyes.

* * *

Wolf couldn't believe Officer Park still worked here. He had been a constant presence in his life since he was in primary school, always the one to catch Wolf up to something and bring him to the police station. Once, he had almost gotten Wolf sent to a correctional facility in Artemisia before Wolf's parents stepped in and managed to negotiate. He looked exactly the same - as infuriatingly handsome as ever, more like a twenty-five-year-old movie star than the vicious older man Wolf knew him to be (he highly suspected plastic surgery). Suddenly, Wolf was a little boy again, caught after stealing from the little convenience store, trying to be all defiant and bold like the big boys, but on the inside wishing he could go home to Ma. That was just the first of many encounters.

He swallowed down his nerves. He was older now. Authority figures couldn't push him around anymore.

"Ze'ev." Jeez, even his voice was the same. Rich and musical, his words glided through the air and made you feel like you would do whatever that beautiful voice asked. Wolf had seen Officer Park say one word to someone he was arresting and all the fight would drain out of them. It was unnerving, at the very least.

"What do you want?" spat Wolf, knotting his hands behind his back and planting his feet firmly on the ground to keep from fidgeting. He knew he shouldn't be so insolent, but this man sparked a fire in him that made him feel like adrenaline was pumping through his veins and he could do any reckless thing he wanted. Officer Park was the kind of person who could punish people cruelly and enjoy it.

"It's curfew," he responded, voice lilting pleasantly. The police officer sounded calm for now, but Wolf knew how fast his evilness meter could go up.

"No, it's not," Wolf snorted. He wasn't going to fall for that. "It's not even eight o'clock yet." Beside him, Scarlet's head was cocked while she stared at the officer, eyes bright in what Wolf privately called her thinking-deeply expression.

"New rules." His eyes glinted. "Curfew of seven-thirty, when the sun goes down. Been a while since you were here, Ze'ev. I suppose you still believe that _you _make the rules, and the world revolves around _you. _One day, you're going to be obligated to show courtesy to authority. And if you can't do that..." He didn't finish the sentence, but his meaning was clear.

Scarlet was still frowning. "You look familiar," she said to Officer Park. Wolf flinched, nervous that he was going to punish her somehow. And Wolf couldn't let that happen. He'd come on this journey to protect her.

Instead, the officer smiled more wildly than ever, that manic glint still bright in his eyes. "Figured it out, have you? I assume you two know my son, Aimery Park. He would be...about your age now, I believe." Wolf nodded. He had realized the second he laid eyes on the boy - Levana's boyfriend before she started dating Kai.

"But wait..." Wolf scrunched his face up in confusion, remembering something else. Now that he was back in his hometown, all the tiny details were flooding back to him. The red coats with gold embroidery that all the police officers wore. The lone blue daisies in his mother's window - the only spot of color in this depressing town. The fine layer of coal dust sifted over everything, a result of the mineworkers trekking home covered in filth every day. "I thought you lived in Artemisia. Why does Aimery go to Commonwealth High?"

Officer Park smirked at them in an _oh, they're so cute and ignorant _way. "Because the police force stationed here isn't an outshoot of Artemisia anymore."

Wolf's stomach lurched. "You report to the Commonwealth officers."

"Levana's father," Scarlet said, sounding like she was getting nervous too. "She told me he's the police commissioner."

"Then why are you still here?" Wolf asked, feeling dangerously bold. "Aren't you all buddy-buddy with Marrok Blackburn? You should've been promoted to the city, or a bigger town at least."

Narrowing his eyes, Officer Park continued to stare down at them. Wolf jeered back. He didn't know why Levana's father would've left Officer Park here in this decrepit, poverty-stricken town, but he thought he understood why the man seemed to hate him even more now. Four years ago, Wolf had been recruited to Commonwealth High. He had escaped, even though he had still gotten involved with a bad crowd over there. On the other hand, Officer Park was left to patrol here for years more, his only pleasure the punishment of civilians who were already so broken they couldn't be hurt much more...

"I'm going to go easy on you today," he finally said, completely ignoring Wolf's question, throwing his chin up like he couldn't stand to look at the disgusting city urchins for a moment longer. "Since it's your first time in Sector in years, I won't arrest you for being out after curfew. But you need to leave now."

"I'm sorry, sir, but I don't think you understand...my grandmother - " Scarlet tried to say. Wolf kicked her shin, making her gasp. Whoops. Sometimes he forgot about his own strength.

"Leave _now,_" growled Officer Park. Wolf saw the all-too-familiar expression brewing in his eyes and knew they needed to get away. Scarlet's grandmother could wait. He took her wrist gently and tried tugging her away.

But the stubborn girl stayed firmly rooted to their spot in front of the hospital. "I need to see my grandmother," she announced. Wolf felt bad for her grandmother, who had had to deal with Scarlet as a toddler. He imagined a cute little redhead throwing a fit and stomping her feet when she didn't get what she wanted.

"Scarlet - " he said desperately.

The officer cut him off. "Since you two seem reluctant to follow my orders, I'll show you the consequences of getting on my bad side." Before Wolf could apologize or protest or try to do anything, Officer Park had released a call into the night. "Over here!"

From all around, more of the police force emerged. Down the street, over a block, or simply out of the shadows they came, red coats gleaming like blood. At first, Wolf thought they were the usual brutes who trained to be full police officers here in Sector. But when he studied them closer, he started to recognize their features. The way they walked...their scarred, rough hands already clutching guns...their wild, grimy hair...but most of all, their faces. Wolf felt sick. He recognized these boys.

The new recruits were the members of his old gang. Apart from the shiny new coats, they looked exactly the same. Sharp eyes stared at Wolf out of their hollow sockets, with the kind of dangerous look that made people immediately run away from you. But Wolf could tell they were different. Before, the gang had roamed the streets for fun, picking victims just for pleasure. But now...he sensed they had a purpose.

He could hardly believe these were the same boys. Years before, they wouldn't have dreamed of doing anything with the police. Something must have changed. There must be a new incentive for recruits...whatever had changed when Marrok Blackburn took control of the forces in Sector, he didn't like it.

"Yes, yes." Officer Park was grinning, as if a plan he had set into motion had worked out perfectly. "I do believe you recognize some of them, Ze'ev. We've changed all the rules. Stricter discipline. Less tolerance, more punishment. Your friend Scarlet's audacity is exactly what we will not permit any longer. Welcome to the new Sector."


	31. Chapter 31

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**I really don't want to be that person, but I have to say that I'm losing inspiration for this story and my notes for the next part of the story don't make sense anymore. I love this story and it's helped me become a much better writer (compare the first few chapters to chapters 20-30 and prepare to be shocked), but I honestly don't know what to do with this story anymore. There will be occasional updates, but I'm not as invested in this as I used to be. So sorry and thank you for reading.**

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As a result of the events last night, Scarlet felt wary as she stalked out onto the streets the next morning. Wolf had managed to persuade the thugs to let them go, at the same time muffling Scarlet's protests. She'd wanted to charge at the arrogant Officer Park and demand that he let her go see her grandmother. But although she hadn't admitted it to him, Wolf had been right. Those guys wouldn't have hesitated to put both of them behind bars.

Something about those guys had shaken Wolf, although he wouldn't say what. Frankly, Scarlet didn't care. Getting to Grand-mere was all she could think about at the moment. They hadn't talked much last night after walking to the nearest, cheapest motel. The thought of sharing a bed was too awkward to possibly imagine, but both of them were too stubborn to let the other person take the bed, so they ended up crashing on the floor. Scarlet was regretting that. Every bone in her body ached.

Anxiety about Grand-mere had condensed into a hard knot in her chest, but she forced herself not to think about it. _She'll make it through, _Scarlet thought, partly making a wish and partly reassuring herself. _She's strong._

Almost no one was out on the streets that early in the morning. Scarlet tried to make her steps as quiet as possible and carefully looked around before turning corners, not wanting to be caught by the police again. With her luck, there was another stupid rule saying you couldn't leave your home before five-thirty.

She was still stewing about all the lost time. First, there was the fight with Ran, then train ride that took an eternity, then the ten million chickenpox testing checkpoints, then the traffic on the highways, and the big confrontation with old enemies of Wolf's. She was sick of waiting on the sidelines while Wolf dealt with all his drama. She should've just come without him.

Scarlet arrived at the hospital in no time. Her grandmother always said that everything looked better in daylight, but that wasn't the case here. The long shadows of last evening had hidden many of the grittier details: the cracked windows, the peeling paint, the awful grayish-brown color of the building that reminded her of boogers. She could understand why Wolf had wanted to escape this town.

If this was where her grandmother was being taken care of...

Scarlet took a breath to steel herself before bursting confidently through the doors. There wasn't time to be weak. She had to be here for her grandmother.

An exhausted-looking receptionist clutching a huge thermos of coffee like it was her lifeline led her up a narrow flight of stairs. Scarlet was glad she had left Wolf, still asleep, in the motel room. She doubted he would've been able to fit through here.

Scarlet tugged on one of her curls anxiously, just now realizing that the last time she had showered had been two days ago. She cringed, remembered Grand-mere's admonishments to behave herself while she was away. If only she knew the things Scarlet had been up to in the last few days...cutting class, confronting the police, wrestling a gun away from a street thug...

All thoughts disappeared as she entered her grandmother's hospital room.

Michelle Benoit looked frailer than she had ever looked in Scarlet's nine, nearly ten years of living with her. Her limbs, normally strong and slightly tanned from working on the farm - she had pretty impressive muscles for a seventy-year-old - looked pale and weak. She looked like she was asleep, but she could've been dead. Barely any breath stirred her papery lips. Bandages covered her ribs and slashed across her face, which was swollen and gashed up.

Scarlet pushed past the receptionist, nearly knocking her to the ground, and raced to her grandmother. "Grand-mere," she whispered, slightly afraid to touch her.

Instantly, her grandmother's eyes popped open. It was like she had been waiting for Scarlet.

"You came," she whispered. But Grand-mere didn't look happy. Her jaw was set in a grim way, and her eyes were wide and haunted.

"Of course I came," Scarlet told her, leaning down to hug her. Grand-mere raised a shaking hand to push Scarlet's chest back.

"The ribs," she whispered, wincing. Scarlet jumped back twitchily.

"I'm sorry - " she started.

"Hush, Scarlet," Grand-mere told her. She shot a furtive glare toward the receptionist, who was fumbling in the corner of the room. The lady immediately backed away, and they were left unattended. "We do not have much time."

"You're not going to - "

"Hush!" snapped Grand-mere. Clearly her fiery tongue hadn't been sapped like her strength. "I said we don't have much time. Scarlet, you need to listen very carefully."

Scarlet bit her lip. Was Grand-mere delirious and confused, or did she actually have something to tell her? If so, it wouldn't be necessary. Grand-mere wasn't going to die. Anything she had to say could be said when they were out of this accursed town and home safe at the farm.

She tried one more time. "Grand-mere, this is ridiculous. Don't talk. Save your strength."

"Don't talk to me like that, young lady!" her grandmother sniffed. Suddenly, Scarlet was thirteen years old, right at the age of eye-rolling and saucy remarks, and Grand-mere was reprimanding her. "I am your grandmother. I may be in a hospital bed, but I am just as strong of will. I may be nearing the end of my years, and I intend to make the most of my last moments." Scarlet ground her teeth together, trying to remember her manners.

"I'm sure you remember that night, a little while ago, when your friend Cinder Linh started questioning me about her past," she began. "I have answers for her."

Scarlet sucked in a breath. Cinder needed to know the truth.

"I - that is, Logan and I - well, I should start at the beginning. Your friend Cinder was born - " Whatever she was going to say was cut off by a round of hacking and coughing, a sound like Grand-mere was suffocating.

"Are you sure you're strong enough to talk? And are you going to bother telling me who Logan is?"

Her grandmother waved her off, but she seemed weaker than before, sinking a little deeper into the pillows stacked up behind her. "Y - your friend was in a terrible fire. That's how she lost her - um, limbs."

"That's not true. Cinder was injured in a car accident." Becoming more and more sure that her grandmother was saying nonsense, Scarlet looked around for a nurse to ask to get Grand-mere more medicine.

"Quiet, Scarlet. Her parents - her mother, to be specific - saved her skin and left the baby in the house to die."

"Huh?"

Grand-mere looked as brisk and proper as a schoolteacher trying to explain things to a dimwitted student. "It's sad, but it's true. Your grandfather and I discovered her - "

"Wait a second. Grandfather?"

Grand-mere's mouth puckered and her eyes saddened. Scarlet tried to see her as the young, beautiful woman she had once been, but all she saw was her elderly grandmother, greatly weakened, fighting for her last few moments of life. "He was a good man. He would've loved you, Scarlet. Not so much your father, though."

Despite all her confusion and pain, Scarlet managed a smile. "I'm sure of that. I - I wish you had told me more about him, though."

"It was a short affair, brought on only because of the emotional stress of the issue with Cinder. We comforted each other, and it turned into...more. We knew we couldn't be together. We both had our own lives to return to."

Scarlet stroked her grandmother's gray hair off her brow. "I understand. But you still haven't told me about the 'issue with Cinder.' "

Her grandmother opened her mouth to explain - _finally _\- but something had changed. Scarlet sensed it before she fully realized what was happening. Grand-mere's eyes drooped closed. Her fingers twitched like they were trying to hold on to something that was slipping away faster and faster. Instinct told Scarlet to check her pulse, which was barely fluttering under the fragile skin of her throat. She stepped back, frozen with terror for her grandmother and the horror of being helpless.

The receptionist - luckily, she had fully woken up by now - was paging a doctor. Scarlet could barely breathe in the few minutes it took for a doctor and several nurses to enter the room. Gripped by fear, Scarlet pressed against a wall to let them hurry past, all of them hovering around Grand-mere and checking her injuries.

Grand-mere's eyes kept flickering open, but it looked like she was barely staying awake. "Scarlet," she croaked. "Have to tell - "

Everyone shushed her, trying to get her to rest. By then, the receptionist had made her way over to Scarlet. "I'm very sorry, but you'll have to leave."

"No," Scarlet whispered, her voice scratchy. "I have to stay - my grandmother - "

The lady eyed the frail old lady in the hospital bed sadly, looking at Scarlet with so much pity her knees turned to liquid.

Her grandmother had been right. Her time was up.

Which just made Scarlet even more desperate. "Please - she needs me! She needs to tell me something!"

Taking her arms firmly, the receptionist led her away. Scarlet thought about fighting, about running back to Grand-mere's bedside, but her will slackened. There was no point in making a scene now. It was game over for Grand-mere.

At the last second, she turned around, meeting her grandmother's eyes one last time. Her eyes, exactly the same shade of brown as Scarlet's, reminded her of fresh-tilled soil back at the farm. The color of earth. The color of _life. _Grand-mere was the strongest, most full-of-life person she knew. And now she was dying.

Memories cascaded through Scarlet's head. She finally understood what having your life flashing before your eyes was like, but this time she wasn't the one dying. Grand-mere, shocked but overjoyed, raising Scarlet as her own after she ran away. Grand-mere buying her the motorcycle. Grand-mere teaching her how to deal with the mean girls at school. Grand-mere giving her the gun, telling her to protect herself.

Scarlet choked back a wave of hot tears. Grand-mere had lived a long and full life. This should be a peaceful goodbye, not a sorrowful one.

As she turned to leave, her eyes caught on a flicker of movement. A gap had opened between the backs of the hospital workers crowding around Grand-mere, and Scarlet could see her face once again. Her lips moved again, though no sound came out.

She could've sworn the words mouthed were _Find Logan._


End file.
